Today’s hymn is by Paul Henkel (1781–1825) who was a native of North Carolina and became an itinerant evangelist for the Lutheran Church in the eastern United States. He was licensed as a preacher by the Ministerium of Pennsylvania in 1783. Although he did receive some financial assistance for his missionary work, the majority of the expenses were paid for out of his own pocket. His work included preaching, baptizing, and creating new congregations in the communities he visited. In 1806 he began distributing books through his sons’ printing house, the Henkel Press, which thus became the only Lutheran publishing house in the country for many years. He also continued his missionary travels, and helped form the Evangelical Lutheran Joint Synod of Ohio in 1818 and the Evangelical Lutheran Tennessee Synod in 1820¹. Enjoy this one on the reality of the Christian life.

Strange is the faithful christian’s life,
What doth he feel within?
A constant war, continual strife,
To crush the pow’r of sin.

He seeks the will of God to do,
And should he watch and pray;
Yet his own will is working too!
And leads his mind astray.

What oppositions does he fell!
Doth not the thing he should.
Contrary to his mind and will,
He cannot as he would.

The flesh against the spirit lust,
The will is captive led;
Until the soul renews the trust;
In Christ the living head.

Thus shall he overcome at last!
In vain he shall not strive;
For Jesus has him promise pass’d,
To keep his faith alive.

Influenc’d by the spirit’ pow’r!
His lusts shall be subdu’d–
And he shall be enslav’d no more,
Nor break his peace with God.

Dear Lord, with hopes on thee relied,
I know I shall succeed:
Till all my lusts are crucified,
And I be fully freed.

¹en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Henkel

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