God is present

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God is present , version of the first edition in 1729

God is present is a spiritual song by Gerhard Tersteegen from the Reformed tradition . He first published it in 1729 in his ecclesiastical flower garden of intimate souls . Joachim Neander wrote the melody Wunderlicher König given there in 1680. The song is contained with all eight stanzas in the Evangelical Hymnbook (No. 165) and identical in Praise to God (No. 387) and with seven stanzas in the Mennonite Hymnal (No. 1).

shape

The stanza form is taken from Neander's Wonderful King . It comprises eight trochaic lines of different lengths:

x – x – x – x – x – x– (A)
x – x – x – x– (A)
x – x – x – x – x – x– (B)
x – x – x – x– ( B)
x – x (C)
x – x (C)
x – x – x– (D)
x – x – x– (D)

content

The original title of the song is "Remembrance of the glorious and lovely presence of God". What is meant is the perception of the presence of the infinite God with and in the believing community (stanzas 1–3) or with and in the believing individual (stanzas 5–8) - Tersteegen's heart theme. This presence is axiomatically assumed (“God is present”, beginning of verses 1 and 2), worshiped with the angels and at the same time witnessed and requested as a spiritual experience . The ultimate goal of longing is the mystical becoming one with God: "I in you, you in me" (verse 5). In doing so, however, the personal counterpart and the infinite distance between the creature and the Creator are not canceled: “Let me see you and bend over in front of you” (last lines of the last stanza). Only the 5th stanza contains statements that could be read pantheistically or panentheistically and that aroused criticism of Calvinist and Lutheran orthodoxy . They were therefore explained in later editions of the spiritual flower garden with passages from the Bible: "Air that fills everything" with Jer 23.24  EU , "in it we always float" with Acts 17.28  EU and "let me disappear completely" with Gal 2, 20  EU . It is noticeable that there is no explicit reference to the saving act of Christ and the work of the Holy Spirit .

Text in use today

1. God is present. Let us worship
and stand before him in awe.
God is in the middle. Everything in us is silent
and bowing deeply to him.
Whoever knows him,
who calls him,
cast his eyes down;
come, surrender again.

5. Air that fills everything, in it we always float, the
foundation and life of all things, the
sea ​​without foundation and end, miracle of all miracles:
I sink into you.
I in you,
you in me,
let me disappear completely,
just see and find you.

2. God is present, whom the Kerubines serve
day and night while crouching.
“Holy, holy, holy” chants sing to him in honor of
all angels.
Lord, hear
our voice,
since we little ones also make
our sacrifices.

6. You penetrate everything; let your most beautiful light,
Lord, touch my face.
As the delicate flowers willingly unfold
and keep the sun still,
let me so
calmly and happily
grasp your rays
and let you work.

3. We willingly renounce all vanities,
all earthly lusts and joys;
there is our will, soul, body and life
surrendered to your property
It
shall be you alone ,
our Lord and Lord,
you deserve the honor.

7. Make me simple-minded, intimate, isolated,
gentle and quiet in your peace;
make me pure of heart that I
may see your clarity in spirit and truth;
Let my heart
soar overhead
like an eagle
and just live in you.

4. Majestic being, I would like to praise you
and render you service in spirit.
I would like to always stand before you like the angels and
see you presently.
Let me try to please you
for and for
,
dearest God, in everything.

8. Lord, come dwell in me, let my spirit on earth become
a sanctuary for you;
come, you close being, transfigure yourself in me
that I always love and honor you.
Where I go,
sit and stand,
let me see you
and bend down in front of you.

melody

Original version of the melody

With its large pitch range, the sixth jump in line 2/4 and the octave-shifted echo effect at the end, Neander's melody for Wonderful King was originally intended for solo singing or a small group, not for a church service. It was simplified early and slowed down from eighth to quarter rhythm. On the one hand, the four-bar structure of the 2./4. Line lost or was compensated by doubling the line ending tone, on the other hand the long notes of lines 5 and 6, a composed “pause”, were cut in half. In today's hymn books is the melody ? / i notated in Allabreve time , the long notes of the 5th and 6th lines are restored. Audio file / audio sample

literature

Web links

Commons : God is present  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ x = increase , - = decrease; Letters = rhyme
  2. ↑ God Is Present in the 12th edition, 1818
  3. ↑ Original: "beats"
  4. ↑ Original: "Holy, holy, all angels sing choirs / when they honor this being".
  5. ↑ Original: "gentle and quiet peace"
  6. ↑ Marti, p. 141.
  7. ↑ cf. the version from 1878 in an American German-language hymn book