It has sometimes been suggested that Christians are not called to life onboard a cruise ship sailing leisurely in the tropics, but rather on a battleship on full alert, positioned in a war zone. The Bible is full of images of the spiritual battle in which we are engaged, warning us about the devil who goes about like a roaring lion seeking those whom he may devour (1 Peter 5:8) as well as a list of the armor God has provided for us: swords, helmets, shields, and breastplates (Ephesians 6:10-20). Part of the job of leaders – pastors, teachers, parents, counselors – is to awaken Christians to the strategies of the enemy and to help us all learn how to use that armor in the daily battles we must fight. And this is a battle which we will wage all the way to glory. The greatest exposition of that equipment is found in William Gurnall’s 1655 classic sermons on “The Christian in Full Armor.”
Ironically, the same Bible which assures believers that their salvation is complete and which forbids them to be anxious also commands them to wake, watch, beware, be ready, be alert, and be on guard some forty-four times in the New Testament alone. If God is victorious, why does He still call us to set a watch? If his enemies are vanquished, against what are we guarding? Sometimes one of the fruits of victory is a new capacity to set a proper watch, as did, for example, modern Israel on the Golan Heights after the 1967 Six-Day War. The permanent victory of the cross gives watchful believers far more confidence than any earthly guardsman may have over his post. For the spiritual watch that comes after Christ’s victory is not a watch against an invading army with power to conquer or mount a lengthy siege, but against the once-conquered rebel who is truculent enough not to concede his obvious losses. We watch, not because the enemy has power “to lead astray, if possible, the elect” (Mark 13:22). It isn’t possible (Romans 8:38-39). We watch because God is pleased to trounce, again and again, His defeated enemies, and to use the weakest of possible means to do so.
While the victory has already been won (John 19:30), and Satan’s head has been crushed (Genesis 3:15), he will still thrash around in those “death-throes” until Christ returns. And so he continues to tempt believers, stirring up the remnants of our old sinful nature, causing us to seek temporal worldly pleasures apart from the holiness of the Lord, and to live for self rather than for the Savior. The Lord has given us a direct command in this regard in James 4, and has attached to it a wonderfully encouraging promise: “Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.” Montreal Anglican Bishop (and prolific author) Ashton Oxenden (1808-1892) has written this helpful exposition of those two things.
The Lord gives us in James 4 both a command which shows us what our duty is, and also a promise to encourage us. The command of God is “Resist the devil.” And it is your wisdom to obey this command. To tempt is the devil’s work; to resist is the Christian’s duty. It is very important to resist the first motions of evil. When temptation comes, look up to God instantly for strength; if you parley with the tempter, you are lost. Mark carefully the steps by which Eve was ensnared. First, she stood near the forbidden tree. Then, when Satan proposed to her to eat of it, she argued with him. Then, she looked at the fruit and “saw that [it] was good for food, and that it was pleasant to the eyes.” The temptation gained upon her, and she touched it. And finally, she finished by eating it. Saint Paul charges us not to “give place to the devil” (Ephesians 4:27). Oh, let us not yield a single point to him. We know that a beggar, who may seem to be very modest and out of doors, will, if once let on, command the house. And so, if we yield only a little to the tempter at first, we are, in fact, giving away our strength, and shall have less to resist him afterward. When the hem is torn, the whole garment is nearly sure to unravel.
If you would keep the devil out of your life and actions, you must keep him out of your thoughts and desires, for that is where he commonly begins to enter. If you would conquer sin, you must nip it in the bud and not wait till it is fully formed within you. Have you sometimes allowed your thoughts to dwell on some sinful object and to brood upon it with delight, picturing it to yourself under its most pleasing forms? This is most dangerous. When temptation gets this far, it rarely happens that it is stopped. Hear what the wise apostle says, “Every man is tempted when he is drawn away of his own lust, and enticed. Then when list hath conceived, it bringeth forth sin: and sin, when it is finished, bringeth forth death” (James 1:14-15).
As He entered the Garden of Gethsemane, Jesus cautioned the disciples to stay awake and be watchful, lest they enter into temptation (Mark 14:38). Here is a hymn that captures that sense of urgency, written in 1697 by a German lawyer, Johann Burchard Freystein (1671-1718), “Rise, My Soul, to Watch and Pray.” It is considered to be one of the finest examples of experiential Calvinism in which he ties together the two complimentary themes of the theologies of prayer and of temptation. Freystein structured the hymn according to the biblical teaching on the three great enemies of the believer: the devil, the world and the flesh. The original contained ten stanzas, but in most hymnals today it is generally reduced to just five. In the first two stanzas, Freystein calls the believer to pray against the temptations of the devil; in the third line, he calls the believer to watch against the temptations of the world; and, in the fourth, Freystein charges believers to be on guard against their own sinful desires. Finally, the hymn is brought to a close with a reminder that the Lord is the one who delivers and that redemption and victory is in Him alone.
Freystein was born in Weissenfels, the son of Samuel Adam Freystein, vice-chancellor of Duke August of Saxony, inspector of the Gymnasium of Weissenfels. He studied at the University of Leipzig in law, mathematics, philosophy and architecture. He spent some time in Berlin and Halle. In 1695 he achieved his doctorate in law at the University of Jena. He then founded his own firm in Dresden. In 1703 he was counsellor in Gotha. In 1709, he returned as a counsellor of court and law in Dresden, where he later died of dropsy, fluid retention and swelling in the limbs. Freystein’s religiosity was influenced by Philipp Jakob Spener.
This is one song that myriad Christians have learned to sing in the long watches of the soul’s night. A summary of biblical warnings stimulates the living soul the way coffee does the body, counteracting lethargy and rousing one to attention and activity. The warnings, although concise, systematically alert us to the dangers we face if God for even a moment would withdraw His shield: satanic dangers, worldly dangers, and dangers within. We are soldiers in a spiritual conflict and shall, for God’s glory, have to encounter enemies now and then, and perhaps even be hurt by them. The only question is whether we shall confide in our own strength like Peter on that harrowing Thursday night (“Lord, I am ready to go with you”) only to learn through tears how weak we are, or whether, anticipating our vulnerability to every kind of sin, we shall depend on God. Both poem and tune mimic the behavior of somebody shaking off sleepiness to keep fully alert. The unique structure of the stanza accelerates abruptly halfway through to give us rapid-fire lines of three syllables in a rhyming couplet, in contrast to the much longer lines 1-4 with their alternating rhyme. One’s heart skips a beat at words like “for the foe,” “Satan’s prey,” “pride and sin,” and “O Lord, bless.”
The most commonly used English translation of this, like most chorales, is that of Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878). Her name will appear repeatedly in series of hymn studies. She was born in Holborn, London, but lived with relatives in Dresden, Germany where she acquired her knowledge of the German language and developed her interest in German hymnody. After residing near Manchester until 1862, she moved to Clifton, near Bristol. A pioneer in promoting women’s rights, Winkworth put much of her energy into the encouragement of higher education for women. She translated a large number of German hymn texts from hymnals owned by a friend, Baron Bunsen. Though often altered, these translations continue to be used in many modern hymnals. Her work was published in two series of “Lyra Germanica” (1855, 1858) and in “The Chorale Book for England”(1863), which included the appropriate German tune with each text as provided by Sterndale Bennett and Otto Goldschmidt. Winkworth also translated biographies of German Christians who promoted ministries to the poor and sick and compiled a handbook of biographies of German hymn authors, “Christian Singers of Germany” (1869). She died suddenly of heart disease in Savoy, France.
While many hymns are addressed to the Lord, professing love for Him, confessing sin to Him, and asking for aid from Him, that is not the case in Freystein’s hymn. Here the singer is speaking to himself/herself. We find this in Scripture, for example, in Psalm 103, which begins, “Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name.” In each stanza, we begin with a call to awaken and engage in the spiritual warfare that threatens to lull us to carelessness, slipping out of intimate fellowship with the Lord and finding ourselves entrapped in besetting sin. All the way through the entire ten original stanzas, there continues this sense of imminent danger, and the need for energetic resistance to avoid becoming a casualty in this great battle for souls.
In stanza 1 the alarm goes off to wake us up to the very real danger of being overtaken by the Foe. This alerts us to the devil’s strategy of coming to us when we are sleeping spiritually, having let our guard down. What a picture Freystein paints, of a sleeping believer having been harvested, gathered by Satan on that final evil day.
Rise, my soul, to watch and pray,
From thy sleep awaken;
Be not by the evil day
Unawares o’ertaken.
For the Foe, Well we know,
Oft his harvest reapeth
While the Christian sleepeth.
In stanza 2 we sharpen the warning to ourselves with strong words like “rouse,” “awake,” and “indifference.” It is in a Christian’s times of careless inattention that Satan can find an opening. Those words are joined with even stronger words about the danger that could be on the verge of capturing us, a danger that could even lead to death.
But first rouse thee and awake
From secure indiff’rence;
Else will follow in its wake
Woe without deliv’rance.
O beware! Soul, take care!
Death in sins might find thee
Ere thou look behind thee.
In stanza 3 we call to ourselves with even sharper focus, expressed in images of light and dark. The longer we drift in this careless state, the further away from Christ we will find ourselves, and the more difficult it will be to return to Him. This stanza expresses hope with its enticing offers which “He so richly proffers” to those whose eyes and hands are open.
Wake and watch, or else thy night
Christ can ne’er enlighten;
Far off still will seem the light
That thy path should brighten;
God demands Eyes and hands
Open for the offers
He so richly proffers.
In stanza 4 we continue the warning to those who may be asleep when Satan springs his snares. Our foe is determined in his hatred of God and His cause, sparing no pains “to deceive and blind thee.” He will use lies, as he did with Eve, blinding us to his presence and purpose. It is only when we keep watch by keeping our eyes on Christ that we can survive these attacks.
Watch against the devil’s snares
Lest asleep he find thee;
For indeed no pains he spares
To deceive and blind thee.
Satan’s prey Oft are they
Who secure are sleeping
And no watch are keeping.
In stanza 5 we look around and realize that Satan will enlist “the wicked world” to seek our defeat. Even “faithless friends” can be used, as we remember how Jesus had to rebuke Peter with the words, “Get behind Me, Satan.” He can use people without their even knowing he is at work within. We need divine discernment.
Watch! Let not the wicked world
With its pow’r defeat thee.
Watch lest with her pomp unfurled
She betray and cheat thee.
Watch and see Lest there be
Faithless friends to charm thee,
Who but seek to harm thee.
In stanza 6 we find the key word “watch,” that has repeatedly been on our lips as we sing. Here, it is because of the way our pride can give us a false sense of security, especially when flattery further weakens our attentiveness, causing us to think we are able in our own strength to spot danger when it approaches. In this way we can trifle with grace, letting our guard down.
Watch against thyself, my soul,
Lest with grace thou trifle;
Let not self thy thoughts control
Nor God’s mercy stifle.
Pride and sin Lurk within
All thy hopes to scatter;
Heed not when they flatter.
In stanza 7 we move to a recognition of what we are to do. While we watch, we must also pray, since it is only the Lord who can identify things we cannot, and therefore not only alert us, but also work powerfully to bless us by intervening to protect us from Satan’s attacks. Our renewed hearts will desire that nothing cause us to swerve from our intent to serve the Lord.
But while watching, also pray
To the Lord unceasing.
He will free thee, be thy Stay,
Strength and faith increasing.
O Lord, bless In distress
And let nothing swerve me
From the will to serve thee.
In stanza 8 we find good news when we remind ourselves that not only can we pray, but that the Lord wants us to pray, “promising to hear us.” And it’s not just that Jesus wants us to pray; more than that, He wants to help us and wants to be near. What a powerful motivation that is to induce us to get serious about praying every day for His help in this spiritual battle.
Yea, He bids us pray indeed,
Promising to hear us,
E’er to be our Help in need,
Ever to be near us.
Ere we plead Will He heed,
Strengthen, keep, defend us,
And deliv’rance send us.
In stanza 9 we challenge ourselves to move forward with fearless courage, knowing, as we read in Romans 8:28, that “all things must work for good and bless us.” In every dimension of the Christian life, we must trust the Lord to do what He has promised, believing that He will “richly fill” us, “and His Spirit send us,” the Spirit who will empower us in this struggle.
Courage, then, for all things must
Work for good and bless us,
If we but in prayerful trust
To His Son address us;
For He will Richly fill
And His Spirit send us,
Who to Him commend us.
In stanza 10 we come to the “therefore,” pointing to the conclusion that cheers us as we finish the hymn. Yes, we must “watch and pray,” confident that the Lord will hear us, even as the dangers remain “ever near us.” But we have good news in sight, since as the end draws near, that means that “our redemption neareth when the Lord appeareth.”
Therefore let us watch and pray,
Knowing He will hear us
As we see from day to day
Dangers ever near us,
And the end Doth impend—
Our redemption neareth
When the Lord appeareth.
The music most often used in most hymnals is STRAF MICH NICHT. As is typically the case with Lutheran Chorales, it has the name of the opening line of the original text in German, “Do not punish me in Your anger.” It was written sometime before 1681 by Johann Rosenmüller (ca. 1619-1684). The music was written for a seven stanza text by Johann Georg Albinus, a Lutheran minister in Naumburg. It was his paraphrase of Psalm 6, which begins in the King James Version “O Lord, rebuke me not in Thine anger, neither chasten me in Thy hot displeasure.” It was included in 31 hymnals. It was translated several times, including Catherine Winkworth’s “Not in anger, Mighty God.” And Bach used it in one of his cantatas, no. BWV 338. More recently, the music has even been used for the Easter hymn, “Christ the Lord is Risen Today.”
Rosenmüller was born in Oelsnitz, near Plauen in Saxony. He studied at the University of Leipzig, graduating in 1640. He served as organist of the Nikolaikirche in Leipzig from 1651, and had been assured of advancement to cantor. He became director of music in absentia to the Altenburg court in 1654. In 1655 he was accused of homosexual activities with choirboys. To avoid prison, he fled to Italy and, by 1658, was employed at Saint Mark’s in Venice. He composed many vocal works while teaching at an orphanage for girls (Ospedale della Pietá) between 1678 and 1682. The works of Giovanni Legrenzi were among his Italian influences and his sacred compositions show the influence of Heinrich Schütz. In his last years, Rosenmüller returned to Germany with Duke Anton-Ulrich of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel, at whose court he served as choirmaster. He died in Wolfenbüttel on September 10, 1684, and is buried there.
Here is a link to the singing of the five most often used stanzas.