"" (I have surrendered to God's heart and mind) 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 ''hy ...

with a text by

Paul Gerhardt Paul Gerhardt (12 March 1607 – 27 May 1676) was a German theologian, Lutheran minister and hymnodist. Biography Gerhardt was born into a middle-class family at Gräfenhainichen, a small town between Halle and Wittenberg. His father died in ...

in twelve stanzas is sung to the melody of "". The theme of the hymn is faith in God and the submission to his will. The hymn was written in 1647 and published that same year in

Johann Crüger Johann Crüger (9 April 1598 – 23 February 1662) was a German composer of well-known hymns. He was also the editor of the most widely used Lutheran hymnal of the 17th century, '' Praxis pietatis melica''. Early life and education Crüger was b ...

's hymnal ''

Praxis Pietatis Melica ''Praxis pietatis melica'' (''Practice of Piety in Song'') is a Protestant hymnal first published in the 17th century by Johann Crüger. The hymnal, which appeared under this title from 1647 to 1737 in 45 editions, has been described as "the most ...

''. Translated into English it has appeared in ten English hymnals.

Text

Gerhardt wrote his poem in twelve stanzas in 1647 during the

Thirty Years' War The Thirty Years' War was one of the longest and most destructive conflicts in European history, lasting from 1618 to 1648. Fought primarily in Central Europe, an estimated 4.5 to 8 million soldiers and civilians died as a result of battle ...

. The theme of the hymn is faith in God and the submission to his will. The first lines, "Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn mein Herz und Sinn ergeben", translate to "I have surrendered to God's heart and mind my heart and mind." Every stanza has 10 lines, following the meter 8.7.8.7.4.4.7.4.4.7. The song was first published in 1647 in

's hymnal ''

''. in the 1656 edition of the hymnal, it was No. 328 in the chapter "Vom Christlichen Leben und Wandel" (Of Christian life and action), in the 1666 edition it came with the header "Christliche Ergebung in Gottes Willen" (Christian submission to God's will).

Melody and musical settings

The hymn is sung to the melody of "".

Johann Sebastian Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard wo ...

composed a chorale cantata on the hymn, ''Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn'', BWV 92, in 1725 as part of his

chorale cantata cycle Johann Sebastian Bach's chorale cantata cycle is the year-cycle of church cantatas he started composing in Leipzig from the first Sunday after Trinity in 1724. It followed the cantata cycle he had composed from his appointment as Thomaskantor after ...

. While Bach frequently used single stanzas from Gerhardt's hymns for his cantatas and Passions, this hymn is the only one on which he based a chorale cantata. Different from the format for these cantatas to retain only the text of the outer stanzas, Bach set the text of five of the twelve stanzas unchanged.

Translation

"Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn" was translated to several English-language versions and appeared in ten hymnals. J. Kelly translated the hymn in 1867, titled "Christian Devotion to God's Will", with the incipit "I into God's own heart and mind".

References

External links

Ich hab in Gottes Herz und Sinn
Der Spiegel
7 J.S. Bach chorale settings of ''Was mein Gott will, das gscheh allzeit'', Zahn 7568
by Luke Dahn (retrieved 21 June 2017) {{Authority control 1647 works 17th-century hymns in German Lutheran hymns Hymns by Paul Gerhardt