For just as devoted mothers here on earth carefully protect their little children in heavy storms, so too, and no less, God lets us, his children, sit in his lap when trouble and distress strike.

— Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676), Kirchenlieddichter

Occasions: Comfort

Paul Gerhardt

Paul Gerhardt (1607–1676) war ein deutscher lutherischer Theologe und Pfarrer in Mittenwalde, Berlin sowie Lübben. Er prägte mit Liedern wie „Befiehl du deine Wege“ das geistliche Gesangsgut, verlor jedoch 1667 im Berliner Kirchenstreit sein Amt, da er sich aus Bekenntnisgründen weigerte, das kurfürstliche Toleranzedikt gegenüber den Reformierten zu unterschreiben. Heute bieten seine Dichtungen Bibellesern eine seelsorgliche Sprache des Gottvertrauens inmitten existentieller Krisen und Leiderfahrungen.

All quotes by Paul Gerhardt (149)

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