Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott, mein Licht, mein Leben

Gelobet sei der Herr, mein Gott, mein Licht, mein Leben. Johann Olearius* (1611-1684). From Olearius’s Christliche Bet-Schule (Leipizig, 1665), entitled ‘Die Ermunterung auß dem Evangelio zur danckbaren Betrachtung dieses hohen Geheimnisses’ (‘Encouragement from the Gospel to thankful meditation on this high mystery’). The ‘high mystery’ is the doctrine of the Holy Trinity: the hymn is founded on the Epistle for Trinity Sunday (Revelation 4: 1-11). It had five 8-line verses, all of which are in EG (EG 139). The first three begin with variations on the same phrase, ‘Mein Gott, mein Licht (mein Heil/ mein Trost)’, and the last verse ends with the Sanctus* from Isaiah 6: 2-3, found also in...