When in the Hour of Utmost Need

Representative Text

1 When in the hour of utmost need
we know not where to look for aid,
when days and nights of anxious thought
no help or counsel yet have brought.

2 Then is our comfort this alone
that we may meet before your throne;
to you, O faithful God, we cry
for rescue from our misery.

3 For you have promised, Lord, to heed
your children's cries in time of need
through him whose name alone is great,
our Savior and our advocate.

4 And so we come, O God, today
and all our woes before you lay;
be with us in our anguish still,
free us at last from ev'ry ill.

5 So that with all our hearts we may
to you our glad thanksgiving pay,
then walk obedient to your Word
and now and ever praise you, Lord.

Source: Christian Worship: Hymnal #723

Author: Paul Eber

Eber, Paul, son of Johannes Eber, master tailor at Kitzingen, Bavaria, was born at Kitzingen, Nov. 8, 1511. He was sent in 1523 to the Gymnasium at Ansbach, but being forced by illness to return home, was on his way thrown from horseback and dragged more than a mile, remaining as a consequence deformed ever after. In 1525 he entered the St. Lorentz school at Nürnberg, under Joachim Camerarius, and in 1532 went to the University of Wittenberg, where he graduated 1536, and thereafter became tutor in the Philosophical Faculty. He was appointed Professor of Latin in 1544, then in 1557 Professor of Hebrew and Castle preacher, and in 1558 Town preacher and General Superintendent of the Electorate, receiving in 1559 the degree D.D. from the Unive… Go to person page >

Translator: Catherine Winkworth

Catherine Winkworth (b. Holborn, London, England, 1827; d. Monnetier, Savoy, France, 1878) is well known for her English translations of German hymns; her translations were polished and yet remained close to the original. Educated initially by her mother, she lived with relatives in Dresden, Germany, in 1845, where she acquired her knowledge of German and interest in German hymnody. After residing near Manchester until 1862, she moved to Clifton, near Bristol. A pioneer in promoting women's rights, Winkworth put much of her energy into the encouragement of higher education for women. She translated a large number of German hymn texts from hymnals owned by a friend, Baron Bunsen. Though often altered, these translations continue to be used i… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: When in the hour of utmost need
Title: When in the Hour of Utmost Need
German Title: Wenn wir in höchsten Nöten sein
Author: Paul Eber (1567)
Translator: Catherine Winkworth (1858)
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

LES COMANDEMENS DE DIEU

LES COMMANDEMENS (French for "the commandments"), a rich and graceful tune in the Hypo-Ionian mode (major), was used in the Genevan Psalter (1547) for the Decalogue and for Psalm 140, and later in British psalters and in the Lutheran tradition. The first setting in the Psalter Hymnal derives from Cl…

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Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #7530
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Instances

Instances (1 - 7 of 7)

Hymnal #131

TextPage Scan

Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #257

TextPage Scan

Lutheran Service Book #615

TextPage Scan

Christian Worship #723

Text

Lutheran Worship #428

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #7530

Text

Christian Worship (1993) #413

Include 57 pre-1979 instances
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