Hymn Guide: Deck Thyself, My Soul, with Gladness
There is a false kind of cheerfulness, common enough among Christians, where we pretend that we are okay. Whatever disappointment we may be feeling, whatever shame or loss, we pretend is not there. We may put on this facade because of social pressure, self-deception, or a theology that forgets that Jesus himself wept, suffered, and died. Then there is also the opposite temptation, to wallow in sadness, as if our Lord did not rise again from the grave. “Deck Thyself, My Soul, with Gladness” is a hymn that addresses these complex emotions with honesty, beauty, and authentic hope.
The history of the hymn reflects the depth of its content. It was originally penned by Johann Franck (1618-1677) and set to music by Johann Cruger (1598-1662). Both were German Lutherans who suffered extensive losses due to the plague and the Thirty Years’ War. In fact, Cruger buried his first wife and more than ten children across his two marriages. Johann Sebastian Bach (1685-1750) added his own moving harmonization to the hymn, which reflects the dynamics of sadness and gladness in its transitions between minor and major chords. Finally, the Anglican poet Catherine Winkworth (1827-1878) wrote the rich English translation that we sing today. The hymn is often sung during the reception of Holy Communion and is especially appropriate at the Burial Service.
Sponsored
Verse by Verse
The hymn originally had nine verses. Winkworth’s translation featured six, but successive hymnals whittled it down to three. While these three do express the hymn’s core conceptual territory, I’d propose including one more verse, which I’ve included below. For an English translation of all nine verses, see Ken Myers’ article on Cantina Sacra.
Verse 1
Deck thyself, my soul, with gladness;
Leave the gloomy haunts of sadness:
Come into the daylight’s splendor;
There with joy thy praises render
Unto him whose grace unbounded
Hath this wondrous banquet founded
High o’er all the heav’ns he reigneth
Yet to dwell with thee he deigneth.
The hymn opens with a direct address of encouragement to one’s own soul. This is similar to Psalm 103, which opens with a self-exhortation, “Bless the Lord, O My Soul.” Here, however, the call to gladness also includes an exhortation to “leave the gloomy haunts of sadness.” This also suggests a comparison to Psalms 42-43, which include the repeated refrain:
Why are you cast down, O my soul,
Psalm 42:5, 42:11, 43:5
and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
my salvation and my God.
In both this hymn and these psalms, the exhortation to gladness is grounded in an appeal to the strength and the grace of God. This is the God who “high o’er all the heav’ns he reigneth,” who also by his grace dwells with us and invites us to “this wondrous banquet.”
Verse 2
Sun, who all my life dost brighten
Light, who dost my soul enlighten;
Joy, the sweetest man e’er knoweth;
Fount, when all my being bloweth:
At thy feet I cry, my Maker,
Let me be a fit partaker
Of this blessed food from heaven,
For our good, thy glory given
Where the first verse addressed the self, this second verse addresses God with a series of names: Sun, Light, Joy, and Fount. These names, listed at the beginning of the first four lines, bring out the tangible graces of God. Notice that in the fifth line, there is another name: “my Maker,” which constitutes a kind of prayer that the God who is the Sun would give warmth to the soul that he has made.
As in the first verse, there is a closing reference to the Eucharist, here described as “this blessed food from heaven.” Part of the blessedness of this food is that it serves both “our good” and also the “glory” of God. Here we are reminded of the first question of the Westminster Shorter Catechism:
Q. What is the chief end of man? A. Man’s chief end is to glorify God, and to enjoy him for ever.
Verse 3 (Optional)
Lord, by love and mercy driven
Thou hast left Thy throne in heaven
On the cross for me to languish
And to die in bitter anguish,
To forego all joy and gladness
And to shed Thy blood in sadness.
By this blood redeemed and living,
Lord, I praise Thee with thanksgiving.
Most hymnals do not include this verse, perhaps because it feels like a tonal shift, focusing on the suffering and death of Jesus. To my mind, however, the emphasis on Jesus’s sadness brings out especially clearly the vicarious suffering of the atonement and the great exchange of the cross. Because he died, we now live. Because he took on our sadness, we now receive his gladness! Even if not used on all occasions, this verse would be especially appropriate during Lent and Holy Week.
Verse 4
Jesus, Bread of Life, I pray thee,
Let me gladly here obey thee,
Never to my hurt invited;
Be thy love with love requited;
From this banquet let me measure,
Lord, how vast and deep its treasure
Through the gifts thou here dost give me,
As thy guest in heav’n receive me.
The final verse is the most explicit in its connection to communion. For the first time, Jesus is addressed by name, and immediately he is identified as “Bread of Life.” Moreover, the call to obedience should be understood especially in relation to Jesus’ command to “Take and eat.”
This is not a call to false cheerfulness, but rather to a serious consideration of the gracious blessings of God in Christ. Even in the midst of our souls’ sadness, Jesus has mercy upon us and asks us to partake in him. Precisely because of our sin and our suffering, he offers forgiveness and healing, that we might participate in his joy and find our gladness in him.
On Video
The first video features the choir and organ from St. Mary’s Warwick. The second video is an a cappella harmonization by Bethel McGrew.
Image: The Institution of the Lord’s Supper by Giovanni Domenico Tiepolo (1778), courtesy of Wikimedia Commons. Digitally edited by Jacob Davis.
Published on
Hymn Guide: Tell Out, My Soul
Tell Out, My Soul is an elegant and fun-to-sing paraphrase of Mary’s Song from Luke 1:46-55. Written in 1961 by Anglican Priest Timothy Dudley Smith, the hymn draws its title and opening line from the New English Bible published in the same year. The New English Bible was controversial for its use of contemporary idioms….
Hymn Guide: Be Still My Soul
Little is known about the life of Catharina von Schlegel, the 18th-century German author of “Be Still My Soul.” She was likely never married, which may have appealed to her unmarried translator, the 19th-century English hymn writer Jane Laurie Borthwick. Then there’s another striking similarity: Borthwick’s most famous hymn is “Come Labor On,” which, like…
_Institution_of_the_Eucharist_by_Giandomenico_Tiepolo_-_Gallerie_Accademia.jpg){kind=link}