This month, we are welcoming the hymn, “Lord, Thee I Love with All My Heart” (LSB 708) into our worship repertoire.

The tune is by an unknown composer. The original text was written around 1567 by Martin Schalling, who was born in 1532 in Strasbourg (just two years after the presentation of the Augsburg Confession). He was a student of Philip Melanchthon at the University of Wittenberg and served for much of his life as a pastor in Germany, in the midst of significant religious turmoil.

Catherine Winkworth translated Schalling’s hymn into English and included it in the second series of her Lyra Germanica in 1858. Between her 1854 and 1858 publications, she translated over 100 German hymns, 45 of which translations have been included in our Lutheran Service Book. Catherine Winkworth was born in England and lived most of her life there, although she spent one year in Dresden, where her interest in German hymnody was kindled.

In the hymn, we confess our faith in God and in his word of promise to bless and keep us. We pray that God would preserve us in the faith, despite the trials of this life, even despite death, and that He would give us a blessed rest while we await the reappearing of Christ, when we will see him face to face and praise him forevermore.

Enjoy more information about new hymns or the hymns you already love as we explore the Lutheran hymnody. Use this month’s hymn in your devotions and get to know the tune. We’ll be singing it a few times in worship over the next month or so and adding it to our growing congregational repertoire!