To a person whom the Lord in the denudations would make rightly known to herself; that she should not fear, and should only surrender.
The Ninety-third Letter.
To a person whom the Lord in the denudations would make rightly known to herself; that she should not fear, and should only surrender.
In our sweetest Saviour Jesus, dearly beloved sister!
Your heartily agreeable of the 16th of this I have already often answered with my heart and brotherly blessing-wish; with the pen I have not been able.
Your long-lasting bodily ailing and suffering together with the great inner denudation, darkness and pressure, certainly move my mind in heartfelt compassion. How much more will our compassionate High Priest look upon you with motherly compassion, bear you and help you through, since it is just His wise hand that daily allots you your weighed Cross-portion, and counts you worthy of the fellowship of His sufferings? The sun makes everything beautiful; now it has hidden itself from you. You are in the dark, there everything appears to us black, doubtful and fearful — especially when one looks about much. Yea, in the dark night all the night-birds and evil vermin come forth, which had crept away in the sun-shine, but were therefore not dead. Make the application now yourself, my sister!
All the misery, and the wretchedness and ruin, over which you now so lamentably do, was also previously in your house; only it had hidden itself before the sun. Some things you now also imagine seeing in the dark, which really are nothing. Only close your eyes with courage; perhaps the Lord grants that in such a night you can fall asleep in the arms of yieldedness, and surrender to God's unbounded good pleasure.
You look about too much indeed; you occupy yourself only with yourself, and that is misery. Nothing but poverty, inability and misery are you; you have not first become so today. Assent with courage to this truth; consent to your nothingness, and sing the Lord a hallelujah, that He alone is great and good: He is so; also to your heart He formerly made Himself known as such a One. Nothing else will you be able to say of Him in eternity. What then should the ever-enduring sorry beholding of yourself and occupying with yourself, as if you yourself were your Redeemer? Yield yourself as an unworthy thing as far as possible, so as only to occupy yourself with Him who is present even in the dark, yea in hell, the great and good God, without occupation. Has He previously given you light, taste, grace for turning-inward, and other beauties? Well, that was indeed His; give it back to Him without complaints, and strike up with courage Job's song: The Lord has given, the Lord has taken, the name of the Lord be praised! The whole nature goes before us therein. Soon all flowers, fields and woods will give their leaves and beauty back to the Creator, and their nakedness and bareness will cry out just what Job did. Day and night, summer and winter praise the Lord!
With one word: you have much to suffer, but nothing to fear, dear sister! God is and remains unchangeably the very same, also toward you. You remain indeed also unchangeably minded toward God, as you otherwise have been. Still in the last letter it says: "Yet there remains in the inmost ground a longing desire to love the eternal God, to please Him wholly, and to cleave to Him quite alone. O! I desire nothing more on earth and in eternity, etc." All that is adverse and evil is also a burden to you, and not a delight. No, dear sister! you have nothing to fear, and not so much to be ashamed of on account of your miserable things, as rather on account of your mistrust toward a God who has shown you so countless mercies and benefits. So bethink yourself then, and yield yourself blindly to the hand of your faithful Leader. I poor sick one grasp you also according to my ability. Greet where you find it good. I remain through grace
Your Mülheim, faithfully obliged weak the 30th of August, 1766. brother.
German
Der dreiundneunzigste Brief.
An eine Person, die der HErr in denen Entblößungen recht an sich selbst wolte bekannt machen; daß sie nicht fürchten, und sich nur überlassen solle.
In unserm süßesten Heylande JEsu herzlich geliebte Schwester!
Dein herzlich Angenehmes vom 16ten dieses habe mit meinem Herzen und brüderlichen Segens-Wunsch schon oft beantwortet, mit der Feder hab' ichs nicht gekonnt.
— Opening lines of the original German. The complete transcription of all 605 letters appears in the forthcoming Encounter Press critical edition; Brief 1 is shown in full as a sample.
German text: public domain (1773–75 first edition / 1845 Gesammelte Schriften).
Translator’s notes
What this letter is. An August letter of the 30th, 1766, from Mülheim to Anna Christina Spieker at Wittenhaus. Her heartily agreeable of the 16th of this he has already often answered with his heart and brotherly blessing-wish; with the pen he has not been able. Her long-lasting bodily ailing and suffering, together with the great inner denudation, darkness and pressure, move his mind in heartfelt compassion; how much more will our compassionate High Priest look upon her with motherly compassion, bear her, and help her through. It is His wise hand that daily allots her weighed Cross-portion and counts her worthy of the fellowship of His sufferings. The sun makes everything beautiful; now it has hidden itself from her. She is in the dark, where everything appears black, doubtful and fearful, especially when one looks about much. Let her make the application herself. All the misery over which she now so lamentably does was also previously in her house; only it had hidden itself before the sun. Some things she now also imagines seeing in the dark, which really are nothing. Only close the eyes with courage; perhaps the Lord grants that in such a night she can fall asleep in the arms of yieldedness and surrender to God's unbounded good pleasure. She looks about too much, occupies herself only with herself, and that is misery. She is nothing but poverty, inability and misery; she has not first become so today. Assent with courage to this truth; consent to her nothingness, and sing the Lord a hallelujah, that He alone is great and good. What then should the ever-enduring sorry beholding of herself, as if she herself were her Redeemer? Yield herself as an unworthy thing, so as to occupy herself with the God present even in the dark, yea in hell, without occupation. Light, taste, grace for turning-inward were His; give them back without complaints, and strike up with courage Job's song. With one word: she has much to suffer, but nothing to fear. God is and remains unchangeably the very same, also toward her. Mülheim, the 30th of August, 1766.
In the dark, and the sun. The sun makes everything beautiful; now it has hidden itself from her. She is in the dark, there everything appears black, doubtful and fearful, especially when one looks about much. Yea, in the dark night all the night-birds and evil vermin come forth, which had crept away in the sun-shine, but were therefore not dead. All the misery over which she now so lamentably does was also previously in her house; only it had hidden itself before the sun. Some things she now also imagines seeing in the dark, which really are nothing. Only close the eyes with courage; perhaps the Lord grants that in such a night she can fall asleep in the arms of yieldedness and surrender to God's unbounded good pleasure.
Occupy yourself with Him, without occupation. She looks about too much; she occupies herself only with herself, and that is misery. She is nothing but poverty, inability and misery; she has not first become so today. Assent with courage to this truth; consent to her nothingness, and sing the Lord a hallelujah, that He alone is great and good. What then should the ever-enduring sorry beholding of herself and occupying with herself, as if she herself were her Redeemer? Yield herself as an unworthy thing as far as possible, so as only to occupy herself with Him who is present even in the dark, yea in hell, the great and good God, without occupation. Has He previously given light, taste, grace for turning-inward, and other beauties? Well, that was indeed His; give it back without complaints, and strike up with courage Job's song. With one word: she has much to suffer, but nothing to fear. Still in the last letter it says: yet there remains in the inmost ground a longing desire to love the eternal God. So bethink yourself then, and yield yourself blindly to the hand of your faithful Leader. Mülheim, the 30th of August, 1766.
A few words and echoes.
- In our sweetest Saviour Jesus, dearly beloved sister!
- Your heartily agreeable of the 16th of this. already often answered with the heart; with the pen I have not been able.
- long-lasting bodily ailing and suffering. together with the great inner denudation, darkness and pressure.
- our compassionate High Priest. look upon you with motherly compassion, bear you and help you through. (Heb. 4:15)
- your weighed Cross-portion. daily allotted by His wise hand; worthy of the fellowship of His sufferings. (Phil. 3:10)
- The sun makes everything beautiful. now it has hidden itself from you.
- You are in the dark. everything appears black, doubtful and fearful, especially when one looks about much.
- night-birds and evil vermin. crept away in the sun-shine, but therefore not dead.
- Make the application now yourself. all the misery was also previously in your house; it had hidden itself before the sun.
- Some things you now also imagine seeing in the dark. which really are nothing.
- Only close your eyes with courage. perhaps in such a night you can fall asleep in the arms of yieldedness.
- surrender to God's unbounded good pleasure.
- you occupy yourself only with yourself. and that is misery; nothing but poverty, inability and misery are you.
- you have not first become so today. Assent with courage to this truth; consent to your nothingness.
- He alone is great and good. He is so; also to your heart He formerly made Himself known as such a One. (Ps. 31:19 / print 31, 20; Ps. 48:1 / print 48, 2)
- What then should the ever-enduring sorry beholding of yourself. as if you yourself were your Redeemer?
- Yield yourself as an unworthy thing. occupy yourself with Him who is present even in the dark, yea in hell, without occupation. (Ps. 139:8)
- that was indeed His. give it back without complaints; strike up with courage Job's song. (Job 1:21)
- The whole nature goes before us therein. flowers, fields and woods will give their beauty back; their nakedness will cry out what Job did.
- you have much to suffer, but nothing to fear. God is and remains unchangeably the very same. (Heb. 13:8)
- yet there remains in the inmost ground a longing desire. to love the eternal God, to please Him wholly, to cleave to Him quite alone. (Ps. 63:8 / print 63, 9)
- So bethink yourself then. yield yourself blindly to the hand of your faithful Leader.
- I poor sick one grasp you also according to my ability. Greet where you find it good.
- Your / Mülheim, faithfully obliged weak brother. the 30th of August, 1766.
trans. Jarred Fenlason · gerhardtersteegen.com/letters/bdii-thiv-093 · all rights reservedEnglish translation © Jarred Fenlason · All rights reserved · gerhardtersteegen.com.