Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord
Let the earth now praise the Lord
Let the Earth Now Praise the Lord is a hymn text by Psalm 148, paraphrased by Christoph Behm (1648) in L.M. (8.8.8.8) meter. Translated by William M. Czamanske. Found in CW21 315, CW93 28, ELH 165, elw 822.
The hymn expresses the incarnational and sacramental theology central to Lutheranism by calling all creation to praise, reflecting God's redemptive purposes. It demonstrates Lutheran catechetical instruction through its accessible paraphrase of Scripture and its invitation to cosmic participation in divine worship.
History & Background
Christoph Behm paraphrased Psalm 148 into German as 'Lasset den Herren gelten' around 1648, published in German hymnals of the 17th century. William M. Czamanske translated it into English for The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) and it has remained a staple of Lutheran worship.
Hymnal Appearances
- Christian Worship: Hymnal — 315
- Christian Worship — 28
- Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary — 165
- Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 822
- Lutheran Service Book — 352
- Lutheran Worship — 33
- The Lutheran Hymnal — 91
Translation
Bulletin Note
Christoph Behm's 1648 paraphrase of Psalm 148 reflects Lutheran sacramental theology: all creation participates in God's redemptive purposes. The German tune LASSET DEN HERREN ('Let the Lord') has carried this text through centuries of both joyful feasts and quiet devotion.
Preaching Connection
This hymn embodies the Gospel's cosmic reach: Christ's incarnation and resurrection invite not just human repentance but the restoration and jubilation of all creation, transforming Law's demand into Gospel's liberating summons to praise.
Background Research
Held (1620-1659), a Silesian lawyer from Guhrau, studied at Königsberg, Frankfurt an der Oder and Leyden; Julian says he suffered 'many trials' in the war years. Later advocate at Fraustadt, town clerk at Altdamm near Stettin from 1657; died 1659. Hymn 'Gott sei Dank durch alle Welt' came into use through Crüger's Praxis pietatis melica (c. 1659; credited 'Henr. Helt' in 1661). Winkworth's version in Chorale Book for England (1863).
Sources: hymnary.org (Julian); Winkworth on CCEL.
In the Church Year
Suggested in the one-year series
- Advent 4 (4×)
- Easter 2 (1×)
- Holy Monday (1×)
- Trinity 13 (1×)
Suggested in the three-year series
- Advent 4 (1×)
- Christmas 1 (1×)
- Christmas Eve (1×)
From LCMS Worship's published hymn suggestions, 2014–2026. The count is how many of those yearly lists suggested this hymn for that day.
Overview
Heinrich Held, a Silesian lawyer-poet (c. 1620 - c. 1659), wrote this Advent hymn on the same meter and tune as Luther's 'Savior of the Nations, Come,' and it borrows that hymn's Christology. It moves from fulfillment to personal application. St. 1-3 praise God's faithfulness: the long-promised Helper has come, the hope of patriarchs and prophets, the One 'of twofold race' — God and man. St. 4-6 welcome him into the heart and ask him to cleanse it and to give us his gentle mind. St. 7-8 plead for strength against Satan and the crushing of the serpent's head. St. 9 looks to his return in glory. The pattern is Luther's threefold advent: in the flesh, in the heart, at the end.
Central theme: God keeps his promise: the long-awaited Savior has come, and comes to my heart, and will come again
Structure
Nine four-line stanzas (7.7.7.7). Fulfillment (1-3); welcome and cleansing (4-5); imitation (6); struggle with Satan (7-8); second coming (9). St. 8-9 form one sentence.
Law & Gospel Shape
Gospel of promise kept (1-3); confession of sin's 'filth' and weakness (5, 7) answered by Christ's cleansing and victory (5, 8); hope of final ransom 'by Thy grace' (9).
Confessional Connections
The two natures in one person (st. 3 'twofold race'; AC III; FC VIII). Cleansing as God's work, 'as Thou hast so often done' — daily forgiveness and return to Baptism (Large Catechism, Baptism). The new obedience of st. 6 as fruit of faith (AC VI). Gen 3:15 as the protevangelium (Ap).
Liturgical Use (Study Notes)
Advent, especially Advent 1 and 2; also apt for the Annunciation.
Historical Notes
Held's hymn first appeared in the late 1650s; TLH dates it 1659. Catherine Winkworth translated it in Chorale Book for England (1863); TLH notes that stanza 7's translator is unknown.
About the Tune
NUN KOMM, DER HEIDEN HEILAND (Geistliche Gesangbüchlein, Wittenberg, 1524), Luther's Advent chorale — a deliberate pairing.
Scripture References
Luke 1:68-73 Luke 24:27 2 Cor 1:20 Heb 11:13 1 Pet 1:10-12 Luke 10:24 Gen 15:1 Gen 12:3 Rom 1:3-4 Isa 40:3 Ps 24:7-10 Ps 51:2 Zech 9:9 Phil 2:5 Ps 46:1 Eph 6:11 Gen 3:15 Rom 16:20 Acts 1:11 Matt 25:31
Stanza by Stanza
Let all the earth praise the Lord, who truly kept his word and has now at last sent us the Helper and Friend of sinners.
The keynote is God's faithfulness: he 'hath truly kept His word.' This echoes the Benedictus (Luke 1:68-73) — God 'remembered his holy covenant.' Advent celebrates not a new idea but a promise kept, and 'all the promises of God find their Yes in him' (2 Cor 1:20). The Savior is named 'the sinners' Help and Friend' — the accusation once made against Jesus (Luke 7:34, 'a friend of sinners') becomes the Church's praise. 'At last' captures the long wait of the old covenant. The whole earth is summoned because the promise concerned 'all the families of the earth' (Gen 12:3).
- Scripture
- Luke 1:68-73, 2 Cor 1:20, Luke 7:34, Gen 12:3, Gal 4:4
- Imagery & language
- Universal praise; 'at last'; Helper and Friend.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — God's promise kept.
- Connection to previous
- Opening thesis.
What the patriarchs most longed for, what inspired the prophets, what they waited for many years, now stands fulfilled in glory.
The hymn takes up Jesus' words that 'many prophets and kings desired to see what you see' (Luke 10:24; cf. 1 Pet 1:10-12). The fathers 'died in faith, not having received the things promised' (Heb 11:13), yet they were saved by faith in the same Christ who was to come (Ap IV; FC SD on the unity of the covenant). This is a Lutheran reading of the Old Testament: it is Christ-centered throughout (Luke 24:27, the hymn's TLH text). 'Stands fulfilled in glory' — the glory is, paradoxically, the lowly birth; John says 'we have seen his glory' of the incarnate Word (John 1:14).
- Scripture
- Luke 10:24, 1 Pet 1:10-12, Heb 11:13, Luke 24:27, John 8:56, John 1:14
- Imagery & language
- Long desire of the fathers; fulfillment 'in glory.'
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — fulfillment of Old Testament hope.
- Connection to previous
- Expands 'kept His word' (st. 1) into the history of promise.
Abraham's promised great Reward, Zion's Helper, Jacob's Lord — behold him of twofold race — truly came, as long foretold.
A string of Old Testament titles: 'Abram's great Reward' recalls Gen 15:1 ('I am your shield; your reward shall be very great'), read christologically — God himself in Christ is the reward. 'Zion's Helper' and 'Jacob's Lord' tie Christ to Israel's God. 'Him of twofold race' translates Held's 'zweigestammte Held' — the Hero of two stocks, borrowing Luther's 'Nun komm' (God by nature and man, a hero of twofold kind). It confesses the two natures in one person: descended from God eternally and from David according to the flesh (Rom 1:3-4; AC III). The singing of this hymn to Luther's tune makes the borrowing audible.
- Scripture
- Gen 15:1, Isa 59:20, Gen 49:10, Rom 1:3-4, Rom 9:5, Matt 1:1, Gal 3:16
- Imagery & language
- Titles from the patriarchs; 'twofold race.'
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — the promised one is God and man.
- Connection to previous
- Names the Fulfiller whose coming st. 1-2 celebrated.
Welcome now, my Savior; hail, you are my Portion; here in my heart too, I pray, prepare yourself a way.
The hymn turns from history to the heart: Christ's coming in the flesh becomes his coming to me. 'My Portion' is the language of Ps 16:5, 73:26, and 119:57 — the Levites had no land because the Lord was their portion; so the believer has Christ as inheritance. The prayer 'prepare Thyself a way' turns the Baptist's cry (Isa 40:3; Luke 3:4) inside out: we cannot prepare the way, so we ask Christ to prepare it in us. This is the Lutheran rejection of preparation for grace by human effort (FC II): the Spirit works faith through the Word.
- Scripture
- Ps 16:5, Ps 73:26, Lam 3:24, Isa 40:3, Luke 3:4, Rev 3:20, Phil 1:6
- Imagery & language
- Greeting of a king ('Hail'); the heart as a road to be prepared.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — Christ prepares his own way in us.
- Connection to previous
- From the historical advent (1-3) to the spiritual advent.
King of Glory, come in; cleanse my heart from the filth of sin, as you have so often done; it belongs to you alone.
Psalm 24's 'King of Glory' again, now entering the heart. The stanza is an honest confession: the heart is not ready but full of 'the filth of sin' (Ps 51:2, 'wash me thoroughly'). 'As Thou hast so often done' is a beautiful acknowledgement of daily repentance and forgiveness — the Christian life is a continual return to Baptism (Large Catechism IV; Small Catechism, Baptism, 'daily contrition and repentance'). 'It belongs to Thee alone' is both confession and claim: by creation and redemption the heart is Christ's (1 Cor 6:19-20), so he has the right to cleanse and occupy it.
- Scripture
- Ps 24:7-10, Ps 51:2, 7, 10, 1 John 1:7-9, 1 Cor 6:19-20, Eph 3:17
- Imagery & language
- Royal entry; washing from filth; ownership.
- Law / Gospel
- Law — the heart's impurity confessed; Gospel — repeated cleansing.
- Connection to previous
- Deepens st. 4: preparing the way means cleansing.
As your coming was peaceful, quiet and gentle, let the same mind dwell in me that was always in you.
The manner of Christ's coming — peaceful, quiet, gentle (Zech 9:9; Matt 11:29; 21:5) — becomes the pattern for the believer's life: 'Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus' (Phil 2:5). Lutheran theology holds together Christ as gift (sacramentum) and Christ as example (exemplum), always in that order. Held prays for the mind of Christ; he does not claim it as his own achievement. New obedience is the fruit of faith and the Spirit's work (AC VI, XX), and the stanza is a prayer, not a resolution.
- Scripture
- Zech 9:9, Matt 11:29, Matt 21:5, Phil 2:5, Gal 5:22-23, 1 Pet 2:21
- Imagery & language
- Peace, quietness, gentleness; 'the same mind.'
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel first (his coming), then sanctification sought as gift.
- Connection to previous
- Having asked for cleansing (5), the singer asks for Christ's character.
Comfort my discouraged heart; you are my strength and refuge. I am weak, and Satan cunningly lays his snares for me.
Realism about the Christian life: the cleansed heart is still 'desponding' and 'weak,' and Satan still attacks (1 Pet 5:8; Eph 6:11). Lutherans speak of Anfechtung — spiritual assault — as a mark of the Christian, not a sign of failed faith. The answer is not inner resources but Christ: 'my Strength and Refuge' (Ps 46:1). The confession of weakness is itself an act of faith (2 Cor 12:9-10). This stanza, by an unknown translator, fits seamlessly into Winkworth's work.
- Scripture
- Ps 46:1, Ps 18:2, 2 Cor 12:9-10, 1 Pet 5:8, Eph 6:11, 2 Cor 2:11
- Imagery & language
- Snares and cunning; strength and refuge.
- Law / Gospel
- Law — our weakness exposed; Gospel — Christ our refuge.
- Connection to previous
- The heart that receives Christ (4-6) becomes a battleground.
Crush the serpent's head for me, so that, freed from doubt and dread, I may cling to you in faith, kept safe through life and death,
Gen 3:15, the 'first Gospel' (protevangelium): the woman's Seed will bruise the serpent's head. The stanza asks Christ to apply his victory 'for me' (pro me). The fruit is freedom 'from doubt and dread' — the terrors of conscience and death (Ap XII on terrified consciences). 'Cleave to Thee in faith' and 'safely kept' recognize that perseverance is Christ's keeping, not our grip (1 Pet 1:5; John 10:28; FC XI). The comma at the end carries the sentence into st. 9.
- Scripture
- Gen 3:15, Rom 16:20, Heb 2:14-15, 1 John 3:8, John 10:28, 1 Pet 1:5
- Imagery & language
- Serpent's head bruised; cleaving.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — Christ's victory applied to me.
- Connection to previous
- Answers the snares of st. 7 with the crushing of the serpent.
and when you come again as glorious King to reign, may I see your face with joy, freely ransomed by your grace.
The third advent completes the pattern: Christ came in the flesh (1-3), comes to the heart (4-8), and will come in glory (Acts 1:11; Matt 25:31). For the believer the return is not dread but joy: 'I with joy may see Thy face' (1 John 3:2; Rev 22:4). The final line is pure Reformation doctrine: 'freely ransomed by Thy grace' — sola gratia, by the ransom of Christ (Mark 10:45; Rom 3:24). The judgment holds no terror for those already justified (Rom 8:1; AC XVII).
- Scripture
- Acts 1:11, Matt 25:31, 1 John 3:2, Rev 22:4, Mark 10:45, Rom 3:24, Titus 2:13
- Imagery & language
- The glorious King; seeing his face.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — ransomed by grace; judgment without fear.
- Connection to previous
- Concludes the sentence begun in st. 8; completes the threefold advent.
Themes
Creation's praise to God Universal worship God's glory in creation Christ's redemption Liturgical celebration