Hymns and Hymnwriters of Denmark. J. C. Aaberg

with me,

      Thy word shall be

      My shield and consolation.

      I will confide,

      Whate’er betide,

      In Thy compassion tender.

      When grief and stress

      My heart oppress,

      Thou wilt redress

      And constant solace render.

      When grief befalls

      And woe appalls

      Thy loving care enfolds me.

      I have no fear

      When Thou art near,

      My Savior dear;

      Thy saving hand upholds me.

      Lord, I will be

      Alway with Thee

      Wherever Thou wilt have me.

      Do Thou control

      My heart and soul

      And make me whole;

      Thy grace alone can save me.

      Yea, help us, Lord,

      With one accord

      To love and serve Thee solely,

      That henceforth we

      May dwell with Thee

      Most happily

      And see Thy presence holy.

      With Sthen the fervid spirit of the Reformation period appears to have spent itself. The following century added nothing to Danish hymnody. Anders Chrestensen Arrebo, Bishop at Tronhjem, and an ardent lover and advocate of a richer cultivation of the Danish language and literature, published a versification of the Psalms of David and a few hymns in 1623. But the Danish church never became a psalm singing church, and his hymns have disappeared. Hans Thomisson’s hymnal continued to be printed with occasional additions of new material, most of which possessed no permanent value. But the old hymns entered into the very heart and spirit of the people and held their affection so firmly that even Kingo lost much of his popularity when he attempted to revise them and remove some of their worst poetical and linguistic defects. They were no longer imprinted merely on the pages of a book but in the very heart and affection of a nation.