Herr, öffne mir die Herzenstür

Herr, öffne mir die Herzenstür. Johann Olearius* (1611-1684). From the collection by Olearius, Geistliche Singe-Kunst Und ordentlich verfassetes vollständiges Gesang-Buch (Leipzig, 1671), with two stanzas and a doxology (‘Ehr dem Vater und dem Sohn…’, traditional and not by Olearius). It is found in EG in the ‘Wort Gottes’ section (EG 197). According to JJ, it is for use ‘after sermon’ (p. 867), but it is suitable for the opening of worship or before the sermon. It is used thus in The Lutheran Hymnal (1940) in a translation by Matthias Loy. The second verse, in which every line begins ‘Dein Wort’, is particularly effective in conveying the way in which the word of God is the soul’s health,...