358. O happy home, where Thou art loved the dearest
Carl J. P. Spitta, 1801-59
Tr. Sarah L. Findlater, 1823-1907
O selig Haus, wo man dich aufgenommen,
Du wahrer Seelenfreund, Herr Jesu Christ;
Wo unter allen Gästen, die da kommen,
Du der gefeiertste und liebste bist;
Wo aller Herzen dir entgegenschlagen
Und aller Augen freudig auf dich sehn;
Wo aller Lippen dein Gebot erfragen
Und alle deines Winks gewärtig stehn!
O selig Haus, wo Mann und Weib in einer,
In deiner Liebe eines Geistes sind,
Als beide eines Heils gewürdigt, keiner
Im Glaubensgrunde anders ist gesinnt;
Wo beide unzertrennbar an dir hangen
In Lieb’ und Leid, Gemach und Ungemach,
Und nur bei dir zu bleiben stets verlangen
An jedem guten wie am bösen Tag!
O selig Haus, wo man die lieben Kleinen
Mit Händen des Gebets ans Herz dir legt,
Du Freund der Kinder, der sie als die Seinen
Mit mehr als Mutterliebe hegt und pflegt;
Wo sie zu deinen Füssen gern sich sammeln
Und horchen deiner süssen Rede zu
Und lernen früh dein Lob mit Freuden stammeln,
Sich deiner freun du lieber Heiland, du!
O selig Haus, wo du die Freude teilest,
Wo man bei keiner Freude dein vergisst!
O selig Haus, wo du die Wunden heilest
Und aller Arzt und aller Tröster bist,
Bis jeder einst sein Tagewerk vollendet,
Und bis sie endlich alle ziehen aus
Dahin, woher der Vater dich gesendet,
Ins grosse, freie, schöne Vaterhaus!
Based on Luke 19:9: “This day is salvation come to this house,” the poem originally bore the title, “Salvation is come to this house.” It is probably the best hymn ever written on the Christian home.
The author of the hymn enjoyed a singularly happy and peaceful home life, not only under the parental roof, but also after he was married and had established his own home. Carl Spitta, Lutheran minister and greatest German hymn writer of the nineteenth century, was born in Hannover. His father came from a Huguenot family that fled France during the Catholic persecutions and died when Carl was only four years old. His mother was a Christian Jewess whose loving care no doubt inspired the son to write this hymn on the home. After completing his theological studies in 1824, Spitta taught school for four years and then was ordained in 1828 to the Lutheran ministry. He passed through a deep spiritual experience about this time which resulted in the composition of his finest hymns. “In the manner in which I formerly sang,” he wrote a friend in 1826, “I sing no more. To the Lord I dedicate my life, my love, and likewise my song. He gave to me song and melody. I give it back to Him.”
His hymns were received with enthusiasm and held in the same esteem in Germany as Keble’s Christian Year in England. His collection of hymns, Psalter und Harfe, first published in 1833, passed through more than 50 editions and a second collection printed in 1843 had by 1887 passed through 42 editions.
Spitta had a family of seven children, one of whom became Professor of New Testament Exegesis and Practical Theology in the University of Strassburg, and another, John August Spitta, wrote the monumental four-volume work on the life of J. S. Bach.
The translator of the hymn, Sarah Findlater, also knew the blessings of a happy home. Her daughter wrote concerning her mother:
Her home life with my father was almost idyllically happy, in the small manse at Lochearnhead, where there never was enough of money, yet where my parents exercised unceasing hospitality—almost foolish hospitality. They were both great readers, and used to read aloud to each other for hours. My mother was an excellent linguist, and her German translations were a great pleasure to her. That simple little hymn of hers which begins “O happy home,” is really an epitome of her home life with my father—they were so single-eyed in their longing to serve God: it came first with them always.
For further comments on Sarah Findlater, see comments on her sister, Jane Borthwick, [Hymn 54].
MUSIC. O SELIG HAUS is a popular German melody written in 1854 by Edward Niemeyer. Information concerning the composer has not been traced.