What makes a hymn a good hymn? In the first place, the lyrics must be theologically true and weighty. The lyrics must faithfully express biblical truth, and they must avoid triviality. In the second place, the tune needs to be appropriate for the lyrics while also singable for the congregation. All good hymns meet these criteria, but not all good hymns are special hymns.
A special hymn is one that ministers personally to us in a time of need. One hymn that is both good and special (at least to this author) is Samuel Rodigast’s 17th century hymn, Whate’er My God Ordains is Right.
There is not very much biographical information about Rodigast available. We know that he was born in Groben, Germany and pastored there for a time before moving to Berlin to become a teacher at the Greyfriars Gymnasium. He wrote this hymn to encourage his friend Severus Gastorious, who was battling some illness at the time.
The hymn is a powerful declaration of God’s sovereign control over everything that happens in the world. Yet, it is clearly more than a statement about sovereignty; it is an affirmation of God’s goodness to His people no matter what trials they may face or afflictions they are called to endure. Indeed, this hymn reminds us that whatever tribulations we face in this life, whatever sorrows we encounter in this world, they do not happen by chance; they are ordained by God. God Himself ordains every trial we face, and He ordains them for our good. His aim is to wean us off of our love for the world and draw us near to Himself.
Whate’er my God ordains is right: His holy will abideth;
I will be still whate’er He doth, and follow where He guideth.
He is my God; though dark my road, He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.
Whate’er my God ordains is right: He never will deceive me;
He leads me by the proper path; I know He will not leave me.
I take, content, what He hath sent; His hand can turn my griefs away,
And patiently I wait His day.
Whate’er my God ordains is right: though now this cup in drinking,
May bitter seem to my faint heart, I take it, all unshrinking.
My God is true; each morn anew sweet comfort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sorrow shall depart.
Whate’er my God ordains is right: here shall my stand be taken;
Though sorrow, need, or death be mine, yet am I not forsaken.
My Father’s care is round me there; He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to Him I leave it all.
What makes this hymn special for me? This hymn has ministered to me through several dark seasons in the last decade. In 2013 I experienced a particularly difficult season that put my faith to the test. My close friend and the senior minister I labored with received a call to pastor another church and I was struggling with his departure. At the same time, about fifty people – representing a third of our congregation – moved out of the area. These rapid changes in the local church left me feeling isolated and alone in the ministry. On the home front, my wife was pregnant with our third child, and we discovered that there were potentially severe complications with the pregnancy. We feared that we might lose the baby.
As I sat in my study one afternoon, thumbing through my hymnal, my eyes landed on this very hymn. I was unfamiliar with it, but the title hit me right between the eyes. As I read the lyrics, I was captivated by the author’s bold declaration at the beginning of each verse: Whate’er my God ordains is right. I knew that was true but I struggled to believe that this truth was good.
I continued to read the hymn and with every verse I felt my heart being pierced through with conviction of sin. Instead of believing that “He leads me by the proper path,” I was wallowing in self-pity and felt that God had forgotten about me. I fell to my knees at once and began to confess my lack of trust in God’s goodness. I prayed that He would grant me grace to embrace His holy will. God answered my prayer, and He filled me with a firm resolve to drink whatever bitter cup He handed me, knowing and believing that it was for my good.
A few years later I had to return to this hymn. We moved to a new church and I had been serving as an assistant pastor there for a couple of years. My family and I had just returned home from a relaxing vacation when I was surprised to learn that the session had met while I was away on vacation and decided that they no longer needed me. “God, how can this be right? This is a dark road. This can’t be the proper path. This cup is too bitter to drink!” Over the next several weeks, my mind swirled with questions and my heart grew heavy with grief. But through the counsel of godly friends I was reminded again that “whate’er my God ordains is right.” I opened my hymnal again and began to sing the verses. I had to remind myself that my Father always leads me by the proper path, and that He would never leave me.
In time the wounds healed and God’s plan for me became clearer. Looking back now I’m actually grateful for the trials my heavenly Father ordained. A member of the church I currently serve went through similarly intense trials and I was able – in some small measure – to sympathize and offer words of hope.
Dear Christian, whatever trial you may be facing, you need to know that it has been ordered and designed by your loving Father in heaven. In your trial, He calls you to trust Him and confidently declare: Whate’er my God ordains is right.
