Befiehl du deine Wege

Befiehl du deine Wege. Paul Gerhardt* (1607-1676). First published in Johann Crüger*, Praxis Pietatis Melica, Editio V (Berlin, 1653), no. 322, in twelve 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 moving hymn of comfort and trust, finishing with a plangent repetition ‘Mach end, o Herr, mach Ende/ mit aller  unsrer...