If ye go to war in your land against the enemy that oppresseth you, then ye shall blow an alarm with the trumpets; and ye shall be remembered before the Lord your God, and ye shall be saved from your enemies.
Numbers 10:9
Words: Paul B. Henkel, Church Hymn Book (New Market, Virginia: Solomon Henkel, printer, 1816) number 154. Thanksgiving for the Restoration of Peace.
Note: The 1816 edition of this hymnal does not name the author. Paul Henkel’s son, Ambrose Henkel, identifies his father as the author by a double dagger symbol (‡) in the 1838 edition, page 644.
Music: Germany Sacred Melodies, by William Gardiner, 1815 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a better picture of Henkel,
Come, let us praise God’s holy name,
And thank Him for His love and grace,
Who to our help and rescue, came
And put an end to our distress.
How greatly were we terrified,
When we began to feel the rod;
Death threatened us on every side,
As the just punishments of God.
We were distressed on every hand,
Involved in all the depth of woes;
When it appeared, our guilty land
Should be destroyed by cruel foes.
But thanks be to our gracious Lord;
Who freely will our sins forgive;
Who gave us not our just reward,
But spares us rebels, still to live.
God has restored our peace again,
O may it never more depart:
May we a greater peace obtain:
The peace of God within our heart.