Befiehl du deine Wege
Befiehl du deine Wege. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676).
First published in Johann Crüger* and Christoph Runge*, D.M. Luthers und andere vornehmen geistreichen und gelehrten Männer geistliche Lieder und Psalmen (Berlin, 1653) (the ‘Crüger-Runge Gesangbuch’) in twelve 8-line stanzas. It was entitled ‘Der 37 Psalm (Vers 5)’.
It is based on that verse (‘Rest in the Lord, and wait patiently for him’; cf. ‘Gib dich zufrieden und sei stille’*). But this hymn is a remarkable acrostic on the verse as translated by Martin Luther*: ‘Befiehl dem Herren deine Wege und hoffe auf ihn, er wirds wohl machen’. The first words of each stanza by Gerhardt, italicised in EG, form this text (EG 361).
It is a very...
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MLA style (see MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd Ed.)
. "Befiehl du deine Wege."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press. Web. 7 Feb. 2025.<
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/b/befiehl-du-deine-wege>.
Chicago style (see The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Ed.)
. "Befiehl du deine Wege."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed February 7, 2025,
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/b/befiehl-du-deine-wege.