Good for those who walk there
.png)
A hymn of the Lutheran tradition is good for those who walk there . The text goes back to a rewrite of Psalm 119 by Cornelius Becker from 1602. Heinrich Schütz composed the melody in 1661.
Origin and reception history
The Leipzig theology professor and pastor at the Nikolaikirche Cornelius Becker used an involuntary leave of absence to create a complete "rhyming" of the psalms as a Lutheran counterpart to the Reformed Geneva Psalter . He gave the 176 verses of the Hebrew Abecedarius Ps 119.1–176 LUT in 88 seven-line stanzas; the original opening line reads "Wo those who live there For God in holiness".
For his new texts, Becker provided for well-known melodies from the Lutheran repertoire. For those who live there , he made the melody indication “Help God that I succeed”, a way of singing that first appeared in a Leipzig hymn book from 1545 and contained in the Evangelical hymn book in a later form with the text “When my sins hurt me” is (No. 82). Both songs are intended for the Passion time and their modal melody has a minor character .
In 1628 Heinrich Schütz published his choir book Psalmen Davids with new melodies and four-part movements to Becker's texts, including a melody for Psalm 119. In the revised edition of 1661 Schütz divided the 88 stanzas of the song into eight melodies composed by him. The of these, originally intended for stanzas 21–32, is the one contained in today's hymn books. Compared to Schütz's other melodic works, it is distinguished by its simplicity and rhythmic regularity. With her mood of cheerful trust, she gives the text content appropriate expression.
The Psalms of David in the setting by Heinrich Schütz were printed in large numbers for a long time and sung by choirs. However, only a few of the hymns can be found in the church hymn books of the time. Becker's 88-verse version of Psalm 119 was also unsuitable for church singing. It was not until the turn of the 20th century that the Zurich pastor Theodor Goldschmid (1867–1945) created a four-stanza version, which was widely distributed through Otto Riethmüller's songbooks from the interwar period.
The Evangelical Church Hymnal from 1950 contains Becker's stanzas 1, 4, 16 and 45 in a revised form (No. 190), as does the Evangelical Hymnbook from 1993 (No. 295) - there is also Schütz's four-part choral setting - and the Mennonite hymnal (No. 394). A three-stanza version was included in the Catholic Gotteslob (1975) , which, in addition to Becker's stanzas 1 and 45, offers a combination of Becker's stanzas 14 and 19 as the middle stanza (No. 614). The praise of God from 2013 contains this as well as all four stanzas of the EC (No. 543; ö version).
content
Like the biblical Psalm 119, Becker's version of the song is a beatitude : “Good for them”, that is: on the way to the fullness of life are those who align themselves with God's Word and thus let God himself be present in their existence. The “word” here is the Torah , not understood as a restrictive law, but as a space-creating instruction that goes far beyond fixed letters. And as in the psalm, in the song the call to salvation over all hearers becomes a prayer of the individual who professes his trusting obedience and at the same time asks for it.
Text in use today
1. Happy those who walk
before God in holiness, act
according to his word
and live always.
Those who seek God from the heart
and follow his instructions
are always with him in grace.
2. From the bottom of my heart I say:
Thank you always,
because you teach me the rights of
your righteousness.
The grace also grant me furthermore
to keep your commandments;
never leave me
3. My heart is loyal and steadfast
in what your word teaches.
Lord, do the best you can with me,
or I'll be put to shame.
If you guide me, faithful God,
I can correctly walk
the path of your commandment.
[4. Teach me the way to life,
lead me according to your word,
I will give testimony
of you, my salvation and refuge.
Through your Spirit, Lord, strengthen me so
that I keep your word;
fear with all my heart.]
4./5. Your word, Lord, has not passed away,
it remains forever,
as far as heaven goes,
which is always moving.
Your truth remains
ready at all times
like the ground of the earth
through your hand '.
literature
- Peter Ernst Bernoulli: 295 - Good for those who walk there . In: Wolfgang Herbst , Ilsabe Seibt (Hrsg.): Liederkunde zum Evangelischen Gesangbuch . No. 17 . Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 2012, ISBN 978-3-525-50340-9 , p. 41–48 ( limited preview in Google Book search).
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ Preface to the Psalter of David
- ↑ Preface to the Psalter of David
- ^ "For" and "before" were interchangeable until the 18th century. For. In: Jacob Grimm , Wilhelm Grimm (Hrsg.): German dictionary . tape 4 : Forschel – retainer - (IV, 1st section, part 1). S. Hirzel, Leipzig 1878 ( woerterbuchnetz.de ). The modern meaning “before” is meant here.
- ↑ Becker's full text
- ↑ title page
- ↑ cf. also Ps 1
- ↑ ö version; EG: "and keep your testimony"
- ↑ ö version; EG: "I want to keep your rights"
- ↑ ö version; EG: "run"
- ↑ ö version; EG: "Earth", followed by a comma