Bogatzky, who came from a noble Hungarian family, was disowned by his
father when he chose to enroll as a theological student at Halle rather
than to prepare for a career as an army officer. His health failed him,
however, and he was unable to enter the ministry. For many years he
devoted himself to hymn-writing and devotional literature. He also
traveled as a lay preacher. Because of his noble birth he was able to
exert a considerable influence in the higher circles of German society.
From 1746 to his death in 1774, he lived at the Halle orphanage. He was
the author of some 411 hymns, but few of them possess the poetic and
spiritual fire of his missionary hymn. Two of its glorious stanzas read:
Awake, Thou Spirit, who didst fire
The watchmen of the Church's youth,
Who faced the foe's envenomed ire,
Who day and night declared Thy truth,
Whose voices loud are ringing still,
And bringing hosts to know Thy will.
O haste to help, ere we are lost!
Send preachers forth, in spirit strong,
Armed with Thy Word, a dauntless host,
Bold to attack the rule of wrong;
Let them the earth for Thee reclaim,
Thy heritage, to know Thy Name.
Johann Jacob Rambach was another important hymn-writer of this period.
The son of a cabinet maker of Halle, young Rambach attended the free
school established by Francke and came under the direct influence of the
great Pietist leader.
Like many a youth, however, he felt that his education was complete at
the age of thirteen years, at which time he left school to work in his
father's shop. The Lord, on the other hand, seems to have had other plans
for the lad, and it was not long before young Rambach suffered a
dislocated ankle. Confined to his bed for several weeks, he again turned
to his books, and, before he had recovered, the desire to resume his
studies took possession of him.
Rambach eventually became one of the outstanding theologians of Halle, as
well as preacher at the school church. In 1731 he removed to Giessen to
become superintendent and first professor of theology. Here he found
conditions vastly different from those at Halle. He was particularly
grieved over the fact that his preaching did not seem to bear fruit.
Often his efforts to bring about healthier spiritual conditions met with
opposition and scoffing on the part of his adversaries. He died in 1735
at the early age of forty-two years--from intense sorrow over the
spiritual indifference of his flock, so it has been said.
Rambach wrote many splendid hymns, among them the confirmation hymn,
"Baptized into Thy Name most holy." His fame rests principally on his
work as a hymnologist, however. During his life-time he published a
number of collections from all sources. These hymns were chosen with fine
discrimination, and Rambach was the first hymn editor to make a
distinction between hymns for congregational worship and those
particularly suited for private devotion.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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