Be not dismayed, thou little flock

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Be not dismayed, thou little flock

Translator: Elizabeth Rundle Charles; Author: Michael Altenburg
Published in 16 hymnals

Representative Text

1 Be not dismayed, thou little flock,
Although the foe's fierce battle shock
Loud on all sides, assail thee.
Though o'er thy fall they laugh secure,
Their triumph cannot long endure,
Let not thy courage fail thee.

2 Thy cause is God's--go at His call,
And to His hand commit thine all;
Fear thou no ill impending;
His Gideon shall arise for thee,
God's Word and people manfully,
In God's own time, defending.

3 Our hope is sure in Jesus' might;
Against themselves the godless fight,
Themselves, not us, distressing;
Shame and contempt their lot shall be;
God is with us, with Him are we;
To us belongs His blessing.

Amen.

Source: The Hymnal and Order of Service #263

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Translator: Elizabeth Rundle Charles

Charles, Elizabeth, née Rundle, is the author of numerous and very popular works intended to popularize the history of early Christian life in Great Britain; of Luther and his times; of Wesley and his work; the struggles of English civil wars; and kindred subjects as embodied in the Chronicles of the Schönherg-Cotta Family, the Diary of Kitty Trevelyan, &c, was born at Tavistock, Devonshire, Her father was John Rundle, M.P., and her husband, Andrew Paton Charles, Barrister-at-Law. Mrs. Charles has made some valuable contributions to hymnology, including original hymns and translations from the Latin and German. These were given in her:— (1) The Voice of Christian Life in Song; or, Hymns and Hymn-writers of Many Lands and Ages, 1858; (2… Go to person page >

Author: Michael Altenburg

Altenburg, Johann Michael, b. at Alach, near Erfurt, on Trinity Sunday, 1584. After completing his studies he was for some time teacher and precentor in Erfurt. In 1608 he was appointed pastor of Ilversgehofen and Marbach near Erfurt; in 1611, of Troch-telborn; and in 1621 of Gross-Sommern or Som-merda near Erfurt. In the troublous war times he was forced, in 1631, to flee to Erfurt, and there, on the news of the victory of Leipzig, Sept. 17, 1631, he composed his best known hymn. He remained in Erfurt without a charge till, in 1637, he was appointed diaconus of the Augustino Church, and, in 1638, pastor of St. Andrew's Church. He d. at Erfurt February 12, 1640 (Koch, iii. 115-117 ; Allg. Deutsche Biog., i. p. 363, and x. p. 766—the latte… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Be not dismayed, thou little flock
German Title:	Verzage nicht du Häuflein klein
Author:	Michael Altenburg
Translator:	Elizabeth Rundle Charles
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

Judges 6:14
(hymns)

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Notes

Verzage nicht du Häuflein klein. [In Trouble.] Concerning the authorship of this hymn there are three main theories—i. that it is by Gustavus Adolphus; ii. that the ideas are his and the diction that of his chaplain, Dr. Jacob Fabricius; and iii. that it is by Altenburg.
This hymn has ever been a favourite in Germany, was sung in the house of P. J. Spener every Sunday afternoon, and of late years has been greatly used at meetings of the Gustavus Adolphus Union—-an association for the help of Protestant Churches in Roman Catholic countries. In translations it has passed into many English and American collections.
Translations in common use:—

2. Be not dismay'd, thou little flock. A good translation of stanzas i.-iii. of the 1638 text in Mrs. Charles's V. of Christian Life in Song , 1858, p. 248. She translated from the Swedish, which, in the Swensha Psalmsboken, Carlstadt, N.D. (1866), is given as No. 378, "Förfaras ej, du lilla hop!" and marked Gustaf H. Adolf. Her version is No. 204 in Wilson's Service of Praise, 1865.

-- Excerpts from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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