Hymns and Hymnwriters of DenmarkAaberg, J. C. (Jens Christian)
History
Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark
Aaberg, J. C. (Jens Christian)
Hymns, Danish -- History and criticism; Hymns, Danish -- Translations into English
When I view the true condition
Of my troubled, restless heart,
Naught but sin can I envision
Even to its inmost part.
Such then is his fundamental view of the condition of man, a being in the
destructive grip of a relentless foe, a creature whose greatest need is
"a hero who can break the bonds of death". And there is but one who can
do that, the Son of God.
Grundtvig's hymns abound in terms of adoration for the Savior of Man. He
names Him the "Joy of Heaven", "The Fortune of Earth", "The Fount of
Light", "The Sovereign of Life", "The Fear of Darkness", "The Terror of
Death", and speaks of the day when all the "nations of the earth shall
offer praise in the offer bowl of His name." But he sees the Christ less
as the suffering Lamb of God than as the invincible conqueror of death
and the heroic deliverer of man.
Like his other hymns most of his hymns to the Savior are objective rather
than subjective. They present the Christ of the Gospels, covering his
life so fully that it would be possible to compile from them an almost
complete sequence on His life, work and resurrection. The following
stately hymn may serve as an appropriate introduction to a necessarily
brief survey of the group:
Jesus, the name without compare;
Honored on earth and in heaven,
Wherein the Father's love and care
Are to His children now given.
Saviour of all that saved would be,
Fount of salvation full and free
Is the Lord Jesus forever.
Jesus, the name alone on earth
For our salvation afforded.
So on His cross of precious worth
Is in His blood it recorded.
Only in that our prayers are heard,
Only in that when hearts are stirred
Doth now the Spirit us comfort.
Jesus, the name above the sky
Wherein, when seasons are ended,
Peoples shall come to God on high,
And every knee shall be bended,
While all the saved in sweet accord
Chorus the praise of Christ, the Lord,
Savior beloved by the Father.
Grundtvig sang of Christmas morning "as his heaven on earth", and he
wrote some of the finest Christmas hymns in the Danish language. A number
of these have already been given. The following simple hymn from an old
Latin-Danish text is still very popular.
A babe is born in Bethlehem,
Bethlehem,
Rejoice, rejoice Jerusalem;
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
A lowly virgin gave Him birth,
Gave Him birth,
Who rules the heavens and the earth;
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
He in a simple manger lay,
Manger lay,
Whom angels praise with joy for aye;
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
And wise men from the East did bring,
East did bring,
Gold, myrrh and incense to the King;
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Now all our fears have passed away,
Passed away,
The Savior blest was born today;
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
God's blessed children we became,
We became,
And shall in heaven praise His name;
Hallelujah, hallelujah.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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