ur cross and bear it,
Till we the crown inherit.

We wait for Thee; here Thou hast won
Our hearts to hope and duty;
But while our spirits feel Thee near,
Our eyes would see Thy beauty;
We fain would be at rest with Thee
In peace and joy supernal,
In glorious life eternal.

We wait for Thee; soon Thou wilt come,
The time is swiftly nearing;
In this we also do rejoice,
And long for Thine appearing.
O bliss 'twill be when Thee we see,
Homeward Thy people bringing,
With ecstasy and singing!

Philipp Friedrich Hiller, 1767.

THE WUERTTEMBERG HYMN-WRITERS

The Pietistic movement quickly made its influence felt in all parts of
Germany. In some quarters, especially in the latter stages of the
movement, it assumed more radical forms. Sometimes it developed into
emotionalism and mysticism. The hymns were often of a subjective type,
which led the worshiper to think more about his own inner processes and
feelings than to direct his thoughts to Him alone who can redeem and
sanctify.

Some of the Pietistic hymnists, notably Woltersdorf, were given to the
use of inordinate language and even sensuous descriptions for the purpose
of arousing intense emotion. In one of Woltersdorf's passion hymns, he
dwells morbidly on every detail of the physical sufferings of Christ, and
in another hymn he borrows Scheffler's figure which likens the soul to a
bee deriving sustenance from the crimson wounds of Christ.

On the other hand, the Pietistic hymn is exemplified in its highest and
noblest form in the writings of the so-called Wuerttemberg school of
hymnists, the chief exponent of which was Philipp Friedrich Hiller.
Wuerttemberg was blessed with the famous scholar and theologian, Johann
Albrecht Bengel, whose sound doctrinal views and profound understanding
of human nature not only led to a healthy development of Pietism in
southern Germany, but also left a lasting impression on all the
theological students who came under his influence at the training schools
at Denkendorf, near Esslingen. Hiller was one of these.

Hiller's hymns and those of the other Wuerttemberg hymnists never indulge
in the weak emotional effusions of which the later Halle hymn-writers
were often guilty.

Hiller was a man sorely tried in the school of adversity. Shortly after
he began his pastorate at Steinheim, in 1748, he lost his