Emphasis Preaching Journal

"Now Thank We All Our God" has long been a standard hymn for Thanksgiving. It was written during the Thirty Years' War in Germany in the early 1600s. Its author, Martin Rinkart, was a Lutheran pastor in the town of Eilenburg in Saxony. Because Eilenburg was a walled city, it was a safe haven for refugees seeking safety from the fighting. Before long, the city became too crowded and food was in short supply. Then a famine hit and a terrible plague followed. Eilenburg became a giant morgue. In one year Pastor Rinkart conducted 4,500 funerals, including that of his own wife.