Tobias Clausnitzer (1619-84), a Lutheran pastor, wrote the first three stanzas, which appeared in a 1663 hymnal from Altdorf in Bavaria under the heading Vor der Predigt ("Before the Sermon"). The Trinitarian fourth stanza was added anonymously in an Arnstadt hymnal of 1711. Catherine Winkworth translated Clausnitzer's stanzas in her Lyra Germanica (1858) under the heading "Before Public Worship"; the English of the fourth stanza comes from a St. Louis mission hymnal of 1886. John Pless describes the hymn as a confession of Christ's words, an epiclesis (a calling down of the Spirit) upon those who hear them, and a prayer that the Church be kept in faith. Stanza 2 confesses that all our "knowledge, sense, and sight" lie in deepest darkness until the Spirit gives light. The tune is by Johann Rudolf Ahle (1625-73) of Mühlhausen, who first wrote it in 1664 for a different text; it was joined to Clausnitzer's words in a Darmstadt hymnal of 1687. The hymn suits this Sunday, when the crowd presses on Jesus "to hear the word of God" (Luke 5:1) and Peter lets down the nets "at your word" (Luke 5:5).
Sung at Our Saviour
2026