Als Jesus in die Wüste ging

Here is my translation of the Invocavit hymn, “Als Jesus in die Wüste ging” (Paul Henkel, d. 1825), in NEGB #37 for the Invocavit Gospel (Matt. 4:1–11) with melody assignment: “Wie schön leucht uns der Morgenstern,” an interweaving of narrative, exposition, and application of the Gospel text. The use of the tune “Wie schön leuchtet” here seems out of place, especially with the pedagogical thrust of the lyric and the penitential nature of the day; it were better reserved for hymns on festival occasions. An English adaptation appears in The Church Hymn Book as “How Great Was Our Dear Lord’s Distress” in 8 stanzas of Common Meter, which I include below.

 

WHEN Jesus to the desert went,
For tempting by the Spirit sent,
He fasted, prayed, and suffered,
And in so doing sore was tried,
And various trials must abide,
By Satan’s cunning proffered.
For so
The foe,
That foul devil,
Sly and evil,
Sought to make Him
Waver, and in sin to take Him.

2 The foe’s attack with scorn begun,
He saith, if Thou art God’s true Son
Then show Thy power clearly,
And, that Thy hunger may be fed,
Command the stones, that they be bread,
Then wilt Thou know most surely
That Thy
Most High
God doth hear Thee
And will cheer Thee
With such blessing,
Thine affliction well redressing.

3 Yet let us do as Christ our Lord,
And answer Satan by God’s Word,
When he temptation poseth;
For man lives not by bread alone;
To God another help is known.
Thus Satan’s mouth He closeth.
If here
We fear
Us forsaken
Or o’ertaken
By temptation,
Yet God bringeth His salvation.

4 If Satan all the world displays
With carnal pleasure that decays,
If he can such be giving—
For all that, may it never be
That we should aid his ministry
Nor at his whim be living!
Soon he
Must flee
If he heareth
Him who feareth
God most holy,
Saying, Praise thy Maker solely.

5 When Satan tries with all his might
In pride to set us on the height,
He to the thought would sway us,
That we can well on God presume
And on His mercy, yet to doom
He would thereby convey us.
Here, then,
We men
Learn most rightly
How unsightly
The endeavor,
And resolve to tempt God never.

6 Could Satan then so impious be
To tempt the Savior, oh, may we
Not think it such a wonder
That he with fury doth arise
And with temptation keenly tries,
God and His saints to sunder.
Though we
Must be
Oft lamenting
Trembling, fainting,
Jesus for us
Has the strength to stand victorious.

Translation © 2023 Matthew Carver

CHURCH HYMN BOOK

How great was our dear Lord's distress;
His trials how severe:
When in a howling wilderness,
He strove with Satan there.

2 That foe assault's him with disdain;
Thou art here left alone,
To suffer hunger, thirst and pain--
Would God forsake his son!

3 Now to supply thy present need;
Art thou the son of God!
Command these stones that they be bread,
Supply thyself with food.

4 May we reply as Jesus did,
When we are tempted too!
This is the means, by which we rid,
Ourselves of such a foe.

5 Man does not live by bread alone,
But by that sacred word:
By which all things are made and done,
As order'd by the Lord.

6 In various ways the tempter tried,
To cause the Saviour's fall;
But was defeated and defied,
And miss'd his aim in all.

7 Christ conquer'd and he gain'd the day,
In all he overcame--
To him we look, to him we pray,
And we shall do the same.

8 To his dear word and promises,
We ever have recourse;
In him always have we success,
To banish Satan's force.

GERMAN

Als Jesus in die Wüste ging,
daß er sein Leiden da anfing,
er fastet, betet, leidet,
dabei war er versuchet hart
mit Proben viel und mancher Art,
weil Satan mit ihm streitet.
Alsdann
gings an,
daß der Teufel
ihn in Zweifel
sucht zu stellen,
und ihn damit wollte fällen.

2 Er fällt ihn an mit Spott und Hohn
er sagt bist du dann Gottes Sohn
zeig deine Macht auf Erden;
zu stillen deine Hungersnoth,
hei du die Steine werden Brot,
dann wirst du inne werden,
daß dich
willig
Gott wird hören,
dir bescheren
solche Gaben,
die dich jetzt im Elend laben.

3 Laßt uns nur thun wie Jesus that,
als ihn der Feind versuchet hat,
aus Gottes Wort ihm zeigen:
der Mensche lebt nicht allein vom Brot,
Gott hilft wohl anders aus der Noth.
So muß der Satan schweigen,
wann wir
allhier
allermaßen
sind verlassen
auf der Erden
muß uns doch geholfen werden.

4 Zeigt Satan uns die ganze Welt,
mit allem, was dem Fleisch gefällt,
könnt er uns alles gehen;
so sollt es dennoch nicht geschehn,
daß wir in seinem Dienste stehn,
noch ihm gefällig leben.
Es kann
Satan
bald vertreiben,
kann nicht bleiben,
das zu hören,
daß man Gott allein muß ehren.

5 Wann Satan sich darum bestrebt,
daß er mit Hochmuth uns erhebt,
dann will er uns vorstellen:
wir könnten auf Barmherzigkeit
ausüben, die Vermessenheit,
damit will er uns fällen.
So kann
alsdann
das uns lehren,
was wir hören;
daß in allem,
wir Gott nicht versuchen sollen.

6 War dann der Satan so verrucht,
daß er den Heiland selbst versucht,
so darfs uns nicht befremden,
wann er uns auch mit Wuth anläuft,
und mit Versuchung hart angreift,
daß wir auch mußten kämpfen
in Spott,
in Noth,
daß wir klagen
oft mit Zagen,
doch wir finden
Jesu Kraft zu überwinden.