What God Ordains Is Always Good
What God ordains is always good; his will is just and holy
What God Ordains Is Always Good is a hymn text by Samuel Rodigast; tr. Catherine Winkworth (1676) in 8.7.8.7.4.4.8 meter. Found in CW21 844, CW93 429, ELH 519, elw 776. Sung to WAS GOTT TUT.
A hymn of profound trust in God's providence even in suffering. The repeated refrain 'what God ordains is always good' expresses a faith that transcends circumstances. The hymn was written specifically to comfort someone in illness, and its pastoral directness has sustained it across generations.
History & Background
Written by Samuel Rodigast (1649-1708) in 1676 to comfort a sick friend. The German original Was Gott tut, das ist wohlgetan became one of the most beloved Lutheran hymns of trust in God's providence. Bach used it in several cantatas. Translated by Catherine Winkworth.
Hymnal Appearances
- Christian Worship: Hymnal — 844
- Christian Worship — 429
- Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary — 519
- Evangelical Lutheran Worship — 776
- Lutheran Book of Worship — 446
Bulletin Note
What God Ordains Is Always Good — Samuel Rodigast, 1676
Preaching Connection
Providence in suffering — trust in God's ordering of all things for good.
Stanza Arc
The narrative or theological arc traced by this tune's stanzas: From conviction of trust in God's wisdom, through assurance of God's faithful guidance, to confidence in God's eternal care beyond suffering and death
In the Church Year
Hymn of the Day (Lutheran Service Book) for: Trinity 15
Suggested in the one-year series
- Trinity 15 (7×)
- Easter 4 (2×)
- Lent 2 (2×)
- Trinity 1 (1×)
- Trinity 12 (1×)
Suggested in the three-year series
- Proper 12 (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
Rodigast wrote this for a seriously ill friend, the cantor Severus Gastorius, who composed the tune on his sickbed and recovered. Every stanza begins with the same confession: 'What God ordains is always good.' It confesses God's holy will (st. 1), his faithfulness (st. 2), his care like a physician whose medicine is never poison (st. 3), his fatherly love seen clearly later (st. 4), the bitter cup taken without shrinking (st. 5), and his embrace in sorrow and death (st. 6). It is a supreme example of Lutheran cross-and-comfort piety; Bach based three cantatas on it.
Central theme: Unshakable confidence that God's will, even in suffering, is good, because he is a faithful Father
Structure
Six stanzas, each opening 'What God ordains is always good' and ending with a short trusting resolution.
Law & Gospel Shape
Gospel throughout; suffering is real but held within God's fatherly love.
Confessional Connections
First Article (God's fatherly providence); Third Petition ('Thy will be done'); theology of the cross. Lutheran providence is not fatalism: it rests on God revealed as Father in Christ.
Liturgical Use (Study Notes)
Funerals; times of illness; Trinity season; Sundays on providence and suffering.
Historical Notes
Written 1675 at Jena. Bach based Cantatas BWV 98, 99, and 100 on it, and it closes BWV 75 and others.
About the Tune
WAS GOTT TUT (Severus Gastorius, 1681) — warm, steady melody written during the illness that occasioned the hymn.
Scripture References
Deut 32:4 Rom 8:28 Heb 13:5 Ps 30:5 Lam 3:22-23 1 Cor 13:12 Matt 26:39 John 18:11 Ps 23:4
Stanza by Stanza
What God ordains is always good; his will remains holy; as he directs my life I follow humbly; in every need God knows how to shield me; so I yield myself to him.
Deut 32:4 ('his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice'). 'His will abideth holy' — God's will is not arbitrary but holy and good (Rom 12:2). 'I follow meek and lowly' — the posture of Christ himself (Matt 11:29). 'Yield me' (German: 'drum lass ich ihn nur walten') — let God rule. This is not resignation to fate but trust in a Father who 'well knows how to shield.'
- Scripture
- Deut 32:4, Rom 12:2, Matt 11:29, Ps 91:1-4, Ps 37:5
- Imagery & language
- Directing; shielding; yielding.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — trust in God's good will.
- Connection to previous
- Thesis.
God never deceives me; he leads me in the right way and never leaves me; I accept what he sends; the hand that sends sadness will turn my tears to gladness.
God's truthfulness (Num 23:19; Titus 1:2). 'His own right way' (Ps 23:3). 'Never will He leave me' (Heb 13:5). 'I take content / What He hath sent' (Phil 4:11; Job 2:10). The striking line: the same hand that sends sadness will turn it to joy (Ps 30:5, 11; John 16:20).
- Scripture
- Num 23:19, Ps 23:3, Heb 13:5, Phil 4:11, Job 2:10, Ps 30:5, 11, John 16:20
- Imagery & language
- Leading; sending; tears to gladness.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — faithfulness and future joy.
- Connection to previous
- God's faithfulness.
God's loving thought is always with me; there can be no poison in the cup my Physician sends; my God is true; each morning I will trust his endless grace and commend my life to him.
The most memorable image: God as Physician (Ex 15:26, 'I am the LORD, your healer') who may prescribe bitter medicine but never poison. Suffering is treatment, not harm. 'Each morn anew' — Lam 3:22-23 ('his mercies… are new every morning; great is your faithfulness'). 'My life to Him commending' (Ps 31:5).
- Scripture
- Ex 15:26, Lam 3:22-23, Ps 31:5, Heb 12:10-11, Ps 139:17
- Imagery & language
- Physician; cup without poison; each morning.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — suffering as healing treatment.
- Connection to previous
- The Physician's cup.
God is my friend and father; he lets nothing harm me though storms gather; now I may know joy and sorrow, but one day I will see clearly that he loved me dearly.
God as 'Friend and Father' (Matt 6:9; John 15:15). 'He suffers naught to do me harm' — Rom 8:28: nothing truly harms the believer's ultimate good. 'Some day I shall see clearly' — 1 Cor 13:12 ('now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face'). Faith trusts now what will be seen later (John 13:7, 'What I am doing you do not understand now, but afterward you will understand').
- Scripture
- Matt 6:9, John 15:15, Rom 8:28, 1 Cor 13:12, John 13:7
- Imagery & language
- Friend and Father; storms; seeing clearly.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — love revealed later.
- Connection to previous
- Friend and Father.
Though I drink a cup that tastes bitter now, I take it without shrinking; after grief God gives relief, filling my heart with comfort and stilling all sorrow.
The cup of suffering echoes Christ's in Gethsemane (Matt 26:39; John 18:11, 'Shall I not drink the cup that the Father has given me?'). The believer drinks a cup that Christ has already drunk to its dregs — and for Christ, the cup was God's wrath; for us, it is fatherly discipline. 'After grief God grants relief' (2 Cor 1:3-5).
- Scripture
- Matt 26:39, John 18:11, 2 Cor 1:3-5, Ps 94:19
- Imagery & language
- Bitter cup; relief.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — comfort after grief.
- Connection to previous
- The bitter cup.
This truth stands firm: though sorrow, need, or death come, I will not be forsaken; I fear no harm, for God will hold and shield me; so I yield myself to my God.
The final stanza extends trust to death (Rom 8:38-39; Ps 23:4). 'With His arm / He shall embrace and shield me' (Deut 33:27, 'underneath are the everlasting arms'). The last line returns to st. 1's 'I will yield me' — a lifelong surrender framed by grace.
- Scripture
- Rom 8:38-39, Ps 23:4, Deut 33:27, Heb 13:5-6
- Imagery & language
- Unshaken truth; embracing arm.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — security in death.
- Connection to previous
- Death.
Themes
Providence Suffering Trust Bach