Gethsemane
I’ve spent a wonderful week in Iceland with pastors and lay people from the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Iceland. We’ve been talking about preaching, a changed and changing culture, and the challenge of shaping a biblical imagination in a culture that is both overwhelmingly and nominally Christian. In addition to the great conversations we’ve had, I’ve been treated at every corner to superb Icelandic hospitality and have had a chance to tour several of Iceland’s historical sites and natural wonders.
Along the way, I was also introduced to one of Iceland’s foremost Christian poets, Hallgrim Petursson (1614-1674), who rose from humble origins to become a pastor and poet. Among his greatest works, and considered some of the most inspiring Christians hymns in history, are his fifty “Passion Hymns” which are often sung during Lent, sometimes in their entirety on Good Friday. I have put below one of his hymns and I hope that its haunting beauty and devout faith inspire you this weekend.
Jesus in Gethsemane
Bowed with mortal strife I see:
Conscience stings me, for I know
‘Twas my sin constrained Him so:
All that weight of agony
God’s Son underwent for me.
Lo! my sin doth heavier lie
E’en than earth and sea and sky:
Jesus in His Father’s name
Bears this universal frame;
Yet the Word of God falls low,
When He bears sin’s weight of woe.
Thus Thou givest me, Lord, Thy peace;
Comfort which can never cease:
Greater that paid ransom’s worth
Unto God than heaven and earth:
By Thine agony I win
Certain pardon for my sin.
Hallgrim Petursson (1614-1674). If you’re interested in reading the rest of Petursson’s hymns, the English translation is The Passion Hymns of Iceland.
not the kind of song that many are singing today. I wonder if you sing songs like this will you develop a certain piety or when you develop a certain piety you sing songs like this?