Philipp Nicolai, Johann Heerman, and Paul Gerhardt, Hymnwriters

October 26

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Today the Church commemorates Philipp Nicolai, Johann Heerman, and Paul Gerhardt, Lutheran hymnwriters. These men are commemorated by the Church for their faithful witness to the Gospel through their poetic prowess and their exceptional teaching of Scripture through hymnody, which has endured through the ages and has been cherished by the Church to which it has been passed down. 

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Philipp Nicolai was born August 10, 1556 in Waldeck, where his father was a Lutheran pastor. His early studies took place at Kassel, Hildesheim and Dortmund, and his theological studies at the University of Erfurt, where he was a pupil of Ludwig Helmbold, another renowned Lutheran hymnwriter. Later, in 1594, he graduated with a doctorate degree in theology from the University of Wittenberg.

In 1583, he was ordained to the holy ministry and was appointed minister at Herdecke. He was subsequently expelled during the Counter-Reformation. He became pastor at Altwildungen in Hesse in 1588. In 1596, he became the minister at Unna in Westphalia. Finally, in 1601, he was selected to be the chief pastor of St. Catherine's Church in Hamburg.

Nicolai died in Hamburg on 26 October 1608, at age 52. His two most well-known hymns, “Wake, Awake, For Night is Flying,” and “O Morning Star, How Fair and Bright” are respectively considered the King and Queen of Chorales. These chorales, which Nicolai himself composed, inspired Johann Sebastian Bach, who based Wachet auf, ruft uns die Stimme off Nicolai’s hymn, “Wake, Awake, For Night is Flying.” This became one of Bach’s most famous chorales.

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Johann Heerman was born on October 11, 1585 in Raudten in Silesia, the fourth son of a middle-class Protestant family. None of his elder siblings survived childhood, causing his mother to pray when he fell terribly ill that if he survived, she would pay for him to study at university. At school in Wohlau, he was educated by Georg Gigas, son of Johann Gigas, who composed two of the most popular hymns of the time. 

He fell ill yet again, causing his parents to bring him home. After recovering, Heerman returned to school in Raudten. At the house of a teacher, Gregorius Fiebing, he began to write his first poetry. In 1602, he moved to Fraustadt, where he lived and worked with the theologian Valerius Herberger, another beloved Lutheran hymnwriter, who had employed Heerman to tutor his son.

For Easter in 1609, he traveled to Strasbourg, where he matriculated at the university. After returning home with an eye infection, he returned to Strasbourg, where he was ordained and appointed deacon to the Lutheran congregation in Köben. Shortly after his arrival, the incumbent pastor, who was old and in poor health, died. Because of this, Heerman garnered more responsibility, despite having only been there for a week. He was permanently installed that fall, and also married Dorothea Feige, the daughter of the mayor of Raudten.

His first wife died of the plague in 1617, and Heerman married Anna Teichmann in 1618. Together they had four children: Samuel, Euphrosina, Johann and Ephraim. He again became seriously ill, from which he never fully recovered. He was eventually unable to deliver his sermons and moved to Leszeno on doctor’s orders, where he died on February 17, 1647.

Among his many works, he is most known for the hymns, “O Dearest Jesus, What Law Hast Thou Broken,” “O God, My Faithful God,” and “Jesus, Grant that Balm and Healing.” He, like Nicolai, inspired a few of Bach’s famous chorales, and his legacy as a Lutheran hymnwriter is cemented by his faithful witness to the Gospel through poetry.

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Paul Gerhardt, perhaps the most well-known and beloved Lutheran hymnwriter, was born on March 12, 1607 to a middle-class family in Gräfenhainichen, a small town between Halle and Wittenberg. His father died in 1619, and his mother died in 1621. At age 15, he entered Fürstenschule in Grimma, a school that was known for its pious atmosphere and stern discipline. He graduated in 1627, though the plague had threatened to shut down the school. In 1628, he enrolled at the University of Wittenberg, where Paul Röber and Jacob Martini considerably influenced Gerhardt. Röber particularly influenced Gerhardt through his hymnody, as he would often create his sermons from hymn texts. 

Gerhardt graduated from the University of Wittenberg in 1642, though the plague prevented him from being placed as a pastor immediately. While serving as a family tutor in Berlin, his hymns caught the attention of Johann Crüger, cantor and organist at the Nicolaikirche in Berlin. Crüger was impressed by Gerhardt's hymns and included many of them in his Praxis pietatis melica. Shortly afterward, Gerhardt and Crüger began a collaboration and friendship that lasted for several years.

In September 1651, Gerhardt received his first ecclesiastical appointment as the new Probst at Mittenwalde, a small town near Berlin. During his time there, Gerhardt composed most of his hymns. He married Anna Maria Barthold, one of the daughters of Andreas Barthold, for whom he had previously served as a family tutor. Their first child was born in 1656, but died an infant. Though initially hesitant, he was called to be a deacon to the Nikolaikirche of Berlin in 1657. 

When he arrived in Berlin, the Lutherans and Reformed fought bitterly over doctrinal and theological disputes. Gerhardt was a prominent voice among Lutheran clergy, and compiled many statements defending the Lutheran faith. He was also renowned for acting fraternally not only with the Lutherans but also with the Reformed clergy; he was respected and well-liked by many. Due to the syncretistic edict imposed on Berlin in 1664, Gerhardt was prohibited from teaching the Formula of Concord, a central article of the Book of Concord. Gerhardt could not comply, and was thus removed from his position in 1666. In October 1668 he was called as archdeacon of Lübben in the duchy of Saxe-Merseburg, where he died on 27 May 1676, after eight years of faithful service.

Gerhardt is widely considered the greatest Lutheran hymnwriter and is responsible for many of the Lutheran Church’s most beloved hymns. Among them are:

• “A Lamb Goes Uncomplaining Forth”

• “Jesus, Thy Boundless Love to Me”

• “O Lord, How Shall I Meet You”

• “Come, Your Hearts and Voices Raising”

• “Awake, My Heart, With Gladness”

• “All Christians Who Have Been Baptized”

• “If God Himself be For Me”

• “Upon the Cross Extended”

Gerhardt, along with Nicolai and Heerman, serve as beacons of light to a darkened world, whose hymnody and poetry have inspired many faithful Christians to cling to the Gospel and rejoice in the promises of Christ, whose love and mercy have called us from the darkness of this world into His marvelous light. May we mirror such boldness and faithfulness, that we, too, like these faithful servants of God, may honor, serve, and love our God forevermore.

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A hymn of Christian encouragement, by Paul Gerhardt (LSB 754):

Entrust your days and burdens
To God's most loving hand;
He cares for you while ruling
The sky, the sea, the land.
For He who guides the tempests
Along their thund'rous ways
Will find for you a pathway
And guide you all your days.

Rely on God your Savior
And find your life secure.
Make His work your foundation
That your work may endure.
No anxious thought, no worry,
No self-tormenting care
Can win your Father's favor;
His heart is moved by prayer.

Take heart, have hope, my spirit,
And do not be dismayed;
God helps in ev'ry trial
And makes you unafraid.
Await His time with patience
Through darkest hours of night
Until the sun you hoped for
Delights your eager sight.

Leave all to His direction;
His wisdom rules for you
In ways to rouse your wonder
At all His love can do.
Soon He, His promise keeping,
With wonder-working pow'rs
Will banish from your spirit
What gave you troubled hours.

O blessèd heir of heaven,
You’ll hear the song resound
Of endless jubilation
When you with life are crowned.
In your right hand your maker
Will place the victor’s palm,
And you will thank Him gladly
With heaven’s joyful psalm.

Our hands and feet, Lord, strengthen;
With joy our spirits bless
Until we see the ending
Of all our life’s distress.
And so throughout our lifetime
Keep us within Your care
And at our end then bring us
To heav’n to praise You there.

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