"" ("Keep us, God") is a Christian

hymn A hymn is a type of song, and partially synonymous with devotional song, specifically written for the purpose of adoration or prayer, and typically addressed to a deity or deities, or to a prominent figure or personification. The word ''hymn'' ...

with text by

Eugen Eckert Eugen Eckert (born 1954) is a German social worker, minister, singer-songwriter and academic teacher. He is known for his lyrics for new spiritual songs (Neues Geistliches Lied), and his oratorios and musical plays. Career Born in Frankfurt am ...

to a melody from Argentina, of "La paz del Señor". The song of the genre

Neues Geistliches Lied ''Neues Geistliches Lied'' (, ''new spiritual song''), abbreviated NGL, is a music genre of songs in German intended for church usage, and based on contemporary lyrics and with music by contemporary composers. History The idea to reach youn ...

, a prayer for protection in hard times, is contained in several hymnals and songbooks ecumenically. Several of these list it as ""

History

The text "" was written by the Protestant theologian and pastor

from

Frankfurt Frankfurt, officially Frankfurt am Main (; Hessian: , "Frank ford on the Main"), is the most populous city in the German state of Hesse. Its 791,000 inhabitants as of 2022 make it the fifth-most populous city in Germany. Located on its na ...

, who has taken care of students, the football arena, and persons outcast by society. He wrote the song as a

(NGL) in 1984, revised for publication in 1987. Eckert was inspired by a song with text and melody by , a Swedish theologian who worked in Argentina. Ruuth created "La paz del Señor" (The Peace of the Lord) in 1968, in three stanzas in collaboration with students, for the liturgical sign of peace emphasised by the

Second Vatican Council The Second Ecumenical Council of the Vatican, commonly known as the , or , was the 21st Catholic ecumenical councils, ecumenical council of the Roman Catholic Church. The council met in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome for four periods (or sessions) ...

. Eckert used the melody, but wrote a free text focused on God's blessing and protection. His version first appeared on a 1885 recording of the band

Habakuk Habakkuk, who was active around 612 BC, was a prophet whose oracles and prayer are recorded in the Book of Habakkuk, the eighth of the collected twelve minor prophets in the Hebrew Bible. He is revered by Jews, Christians, and Muslims. Almost al ...

, for which he mainly wrote his texts. It was printed in

Limburg Limburg or Limbourg may refer to: Regions * Limburg (Belgium), a province since 1839 in the Flanders region of Belgium * Limburg (Netherlands), a province since 1839 in the south of the Netherlands * Diocese of Limburg, Roman Catholic Diocese in ...

1987 in a collection of NGL songs for

Lent Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...

. "" is especially suitable for benediction and conclusion of church services. It was included in the Protestant hymnal '' Evangelisches Gesangbuch'' as EG 171, and in the second edition of the Catholic hymnal ''

Gotteslob ''Gotteslob'' ("Praise of God") is the title of the hymnbook authorized by the Catholic dioceses in Germany, Austria, South Tyrol, Luxembourg and Liège, Belgium. First published in Advent 2013, it is the current official hymnal for German-speaki ...

'' as GL 453 in 2013, in the section "Leben in Gott – Segen" (Life in God – Blessing). The song is contained in hymnals for young people and in several songbooks.

Text and theme

The text is in four

stanza In poetry, a stanza (; from Italian language, Italian ''stanza'' , "room") is a group of lines within a poem, usually set off from others by a blank line or Indentation (typesetting), indentation. Stanzas can have regular rhyme scheme, rhyme and ...

s of six lines each, rhyming AABCCB, with the second half repeated. It is written in the first person plural, as a prayer for blessing and protection on a journey and in hard times. The first two lines are the same for all stanzas: "Bewahre uns, Gott, behüte uns Gott", requesting God to keep and guard us. In three stanzas, the third longer lines name situations in which protection is needed, first "on our ways" ("auf unseren Wegen") which can mean travel but also the ways in life, then "in all suffering" ("in allem Leiden"), and last "from every evil" ("vor allem Bösen"), which comes from the last petition in the

Lord's Prayer The Lord's Prayer, also called the Our Father or Pater Noster, is a central Christian prayer which Jesus taught as the way to pray. Two versions of this prayer are recorded in the gospels: a longer form within the Sermon on the Mount in the Gosp ...

. The fourth and fifth lines, rhyming for emphasis, name something expected in the situation. In the ways of life, God is requested to be "a spring and bread in the desert" ("Quelle und Brot in Wüstennot"), referring to his past protection during the

Exodus Exodus or the Exodus may refer to: Religion * Book of Exodus, second book of the Hebrew Torah and the Christian Bible * The Exodus, the biblical story of the migration of the ancient Israelites from Egypt into Canaan Historical events * Ex ...

, and also to

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label=Hebrew/Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religious ...

saying "I am the bread of life." In suffering, God is requested to be "warmth and light in our face" ("Wärme und Licht im Angesicht"), derived from the Aaron's blessing traditionally spoken at the end of

Lutheran Lutheranism is one of the largest branches of Protestantism, identifying primarily with the theology of Martin Luther, the 16th-century German monk and reformer whose efforts to reform the theology and practice of the Catholic Church launched th ...

services. To protect from evil, God is requested to be "help and strength creating peace" (sei Hilfe, sei Kraft, die Frieden schafft). The last lines of each stanza address God again to be around us with blessing. The final stanza prays that the

Holy Spirit In Judaism, the Holy Spirit is the divine force, quality, and influence of God over the Universe or over his creatures. In Nicene Christianity, the Holy Spirit or Holy Ghost is the third person of the Trinity. In Islam, the Holy Spirit acts as ...

, promising life ("Dein Heiliger Geist, der Leben verheißt") be around us.

Melody

Ruuth's melody is in

E minor E minor is a minor scale based on E, consisting of the pitches E, F, G, A, B, C, and D. Its key signature has one sharp. Its relative major is G major and its parallel major is E major. The E natural minor scale is: : Changes needed ...

in a

triple metre Triple metre (or Am. triple meter, also known as triple time) is a musical metre characterized by a ''primary'' division of 3 beats to the bar, usually indicated by 3 (simple) or 9 (compound) in the upper figure of the time signature, with , , ...

. Depending on the situation, it can be sung slow and heavily, or fast and dance-like. It is simple and covers the range of an

octave In music, an octave ( la, octavus: eighth) or perfect octave (sometimes called the diapason) is the interval between one musical pitch and another with double its frequency. The octave relationship is a natural phenomenon that has been refer ...

, beginning with the lowest note. The highest register is reached at the beginning of the second half, when the visions of bread, light and strength are expressed.

References

External links

* {{authority control 1984 songs 20th-century hymns in German Neues Geistliches Lied