“DEAR CHRISTIANS, LET US NOW REJOICE” (1523)
If the ballad describing the martyrs’ deaths of Johann Esch and Heinrich Voes was Luther’s first hymn, this ballad of the believer’s justification was most likely his second. With the former it shares a vivid, personal, dramatic style. But while in the martyrs’ hymn two individuals served to illustrate the joy and confidence of faith, here the same theme is depicted in the struggles and victories of every believer. And while the first hymn described a historical event, the second takes its material from Luther’s innermost experiences.
Stanza 1 Dear Christians, let us now rejoice, and dance in joyous measure: Of what to us our God hath shown, and the sweet wonder he hath done Full dearly hath he wrought us.
Stanza 2: That of good cheer and with one voice We sing in love and pleasure. Of what to us our God hath shown, and the sweet wonder he hath done Full dearly hath he wrought us.
“ALL PRAISE TO THEE, O JESUS CHRIST” (1523)
The first stanza of this hymn was known long before the Reformation and was frequently sung on Christmas Day as the people’s response to the sequence “Grates nunc omnes.”
Stanza 7 “All this for us did Jesus do, That his great love he might show. Let Christendom rejoice therefore, And give him thanks for evermore. Kyrie. (Luther’s Works, v. 53, p.216, 239-240)