Published in 1606 AD as Meditationes Sacrae, Sacred Meditations is the devotional classic of Johann Gerhard, the Lutheran theologian later known for his Loci Theologici. Its fifty-one meditations, each opening with a short maxim, move from confession of sin and the suffering of Christ through faith, baptism, the Lord's Supper, prayer and the Christian life, to death, judgment, hell and the hope of heaven. This edition modernizes C. W. Heisler's 1896 English translation, all fifty-one meditations complete.
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C. W. Heisler's English translation, Lutheran Publication Society, 1896
Type
Devotional meditations and prayers
Structure
Fifty-one meditations, each opening with a short maxim
Length
About 60,000 words
"Sacred Meditations" (Meditationes Sacrae) is Johann Gerhard's Lutheran devotional classic, published in 1606 AD. Its fifty-one short meditations lead the soul from confession of sin and the cross of Christ, through faith, the sacraments and the Christian life, to death, judgment and the hope of heaven.
“In them I will hide from the accusations of the whole world.”
From this edition
How the argument unfolds
01
Meditations 1 to 3: confession and repentance. The sinner stands accused by the devil, the elements, the angels and the law, and flees to Christ: "I appeal from the throne of your justice to the throne of your mercy." At the cross the soul learns to "Judge the greatness of your peril by the greatness of the price paid."
02
Meditations 4 to 13: Christ, faith and assurance. The name of Jesus, comfort in his suffering, the certainty of salvation, reconciliation and the nature of true faith. Faith joins the soul to Christ in a spiritual marriage: "Through faith alone we share in this blessed spiritual union."
03
Meditations 14 to 24: incarnation, sacraments and election. The mystery of the incarnation, baptism, three meditations on the Lord's Supper, the ascension, the Holy Spirit, the Church and predestination. Election is to be sought in Christ, not in the hidden decree: "We are chosen in Christ."
04
Meditations 25 to 27: prayer, angels and the devil. The saving power of prayer, the guardianship of the holy angels, and the schemes of the devil against the believer.
05
Meditations 28 to 42: the Christian life. Rules for a godly life, false security, following Christ, self-denial, peace, a clear conscience, humility, greed, love, chastity, the brevity of life, the value of trials, patience and perseverance in temptation.
06
Meditations 43 to 51: the last things. Remembering death daily, comfort when friends die, the Last Judgment, longing for eternal life, seeing God in heaven, life with the angels, the severity of hell, eternal punishment, and rising with Christ.
Key themes
Christ's merit against the accusing conscience. Gerhard never makes light of sin, but every accusation ends at the cross: "My sins are indeed great, but the satisfaction you have made for them is far greater."
Wonder before the Sacrament. Christ's body and blood are truly given in the Supper, and the right response is adoration, not curiosity: "I do not pry into the mysteries of his power, but marvel at the wonders of his mercy."
Living toward death. The daily remembrance of death, judgment and eternity shapes every choice: "Appear in God’s sight today as you would wish to stand before him at the judgment."
Meditation 1: True Confession of Sin
Acknowledging a Fault Heals It.
O holy God (Lev 11:45), righteous Judge (Ps 7:12), my sins are always before your eyes and present in your thoughts. Every hour I think of death, for every hour death threatens me. Every day I think of the judgment (2 Cor 5:10), because I must account for every day on the Day of Judgment. I examine my life, and look! It is entirely empty and wicked. Many of my actions are empty and unprofitable; very many of my words are emptier still, while most of my thoughts are full of emptiness. My life is not merely empty. It is also unholy and wicked; I find nothing good in it. Even if I should find something apparently good, it would not be truly good and perfect, because it is tainted by original sin and a corrupt nature.
The godly Job said, “I am afraid of all my works” (Job 9:28). If so devout a saint complains this way, what must I, a miserable sinner, say about myself? “All our righteousnesses are as filthy rags” (Isa 64:6). If this is our righteousness, what must our unrighteousness be? “When ye shall have done,” the Savior said, “all those things which are commanded you, say, We are unprofitable servants” (Luke 17:10). If we are unprofitable when we obey his commands, surely we will be detestable when we break them. If I owe you myself and everything I can do when I commit no sin, O holy God, what can I possibly give you when I sin?
Our righteousness, however excellent it seems to us, is nothing but unrighteousness compared with yours. A lamp that shines in the darkness is dimmed by the light of the sun. A stick often seems straight until comparison with a ruler reveals its crookedness. The impression of a seal often looks perfect to an ordinary observer, while a craftsman’s eyes discover many defects. In the same way, a deed that seems brilliant to the person doing it often looks worthless to the Judge. Human judgments are one thing; God’s judgments are another.
The memory of my many sins terrifies me. But oh, how many more escape my memory! “Who can understand his errors? Cleanse Thou me from secret faults” (Ps 19:12), O Lord. I dare not lift my eyes to heaven (Luke 8:13), because I have offended the one who lives there. Nor can I find any refuge on earth. How dare I hope for any favor from a creature when I have offended the Lord of all creatures?
My adversary, the devil, accuses me (Rev 12:10). “Righteous Judge,” he says to God, “declare him mine because of his sin, since he refused to become yours through your offer of grace. He is yours by nature, but mine through his willful delight in sin; yours through your suffering, but mine through my persuasion. He has disobeyed you and obeyed me. From you he received the robe of immortality and innocence; from me he received these tattered garments of unrighteousness. He has lost your robe and comes before you wearing mine. Declare him mine, then, and condemn him to share my eternal damnation.”
All the elements rise in judgment against me. The heavens cry out, “I have comforted you with light.” The air exclaims, “I have given you every variety of bird for your pleasure.” The water says, “I have given you every kind of fish for your sustenance.” The earth declares, “I have supplied you with bread and wine for your nourishment. Yet you have abused all these things and brought our common Creator into contempt. Let all our blessings therefore become instruments to torture you!”
The fire cries out, “Let him be burned in me!” The water says, “Let him be drowned in me.” The air calls out, “Let him be tossed and driven by my storms.” The earth exclaims, “Let him be swallowed up by me.” The fire speaks again: “Let my flames devour him.”
The holy angels also accuse me, though God gave them to minister to me and to be my companions in the life to come. Alas, by my sins I have deprived myself of their holy ministry in this life and the blessed hope of their fellowship in the next.
God’s very voice, the divine law, also accuses me. I must either keep that law or perish. Yet fulfilling it is plainly impossible for me, and the thought of perishing is utterly unbearable. God himself accuses me, the unyielding Judge and almighty enforcer of his own external law. I cannot deceive him, for he is wisdom itself. I cannot flee from him, for his power reigns everywhere. Where, then, shall I flee (Ps 139:7)?
To you, blessed Christ, my only Redeemer and Savior, I flee for refuge. My sins are indeed great, but the satisfaction you have made for them is far greater. My unrighteousness is great, but your righteousness is far greater. I admit my sin; graciously remit its penalty. I reveal it; mercifully conceal it. I uncover it in repentance; graciously hide it. In me there is nothing but sin that deserves your condemnation. In you there is nothing but grace that gives me a blessed hope of salvation. I have committed many sins for which I could most justly be condemned, but you have left nothing undone to save me most graciously.
I hear a voice in the Song of Songs bidding me hide in the clefts of the rock (Song 2:14). You are the immovable rock (1 Cor 10:4), and your wounds are its clefts. In them I will hide from the accusations of the whole world. My sins cry aloud to heaven for vengeance, but your blood, shed for my sins, cries out more strongly still (Heb 12:24). My sins accuse me powerfully before God, but your suffering is more powerful in my defense. My dreadfully wicked life clamors for my condemnation, but your holy and righteous life pleads still more powerfully for my salvation. I appeal from the throne of your justice to the throne of your mercy. Nor do I wish to come before your judgment seat unless your most holy merit stands between me and your judgment.
Meditation 2: Repentance at Christ’s Cross
Behold the Suffering Christ!
Look, faithful soul, at your Lord’s grief on the cross, his gaping wounds as he hangs there, and the terrible agony of his death. That head, before which the angelic spirits bow in reverent fear, is pierced with crowded thorns. That face, more beautiful than all human faces, is defiled by the spit of the ungodly. Those eyes, brighter than the sun, grow dark in death. Those ears, accustomed to the praises of the angelic hosts, receive the insults and taunts of sinners. That mouth, which spoke as no one ever spoke and teaches the angels, is made to drink vinegar and gall.
Those feet, at whose footstool the deepest adoration is offered (Isa 66:1), are pierced with nails. Those hands, which stretched out the heavens (Isa 45:12), are stretched out on the cross and fastened with spikes. That body, the most sacred dwelling and purest habitation of the Godhead, is scourged and pierced with a spear. Nothing in it remains uninjured except his tongue, so that he may pray for those who crucify him (Luke 23:34).
The one who rules in heaven with the Father is shamefully abused on the cross by sinners. God suffers; God sheds his blood (Acts 20:28). Judge the greatness of your peril by the greatness of the price paid, and the dreadfulness of your disease by the cost of its remedy. Your wounds of sin were great indeed, since only the wounds of the living and life-giving flesh of the Son of God could heal them. That disease was desperate indeed, since only the death of the Physician himself could cure it.
Consider, faithful soul, God’s blazing wrath. After the fall of our first parent, the eternal, only-begotten, dearly loved Son of God himself became our intercessor. Yet God’s wrath was not turned away from us. The one through whom God made the worlds (Heb 1:2) was interceding for us. For the sake of us miserable sinners, he, the Most High, became the Advocate of our salvation (1 John 2:1). Yet for all this, God’s wrath was not turned away from us.
The Savior clothes himself in our flesh so that, by communicating divine glory to our flesh, he might make atonement for sinful flesh. He does this also so that, by communicating the healing power of perfect righteousness to our flesh, he might purge the poison of sin that clings to it. Yet despite all this, God’s wrath was not turned away from us.
He takes upon himself our sins and the punishment they deserve. His precious body is bound, scourged, wounded, pierced, crucified, and laid in the tomb. His blood pours out abundantly, like dew, from every part of his suffering body. His most holy soul is grieved beyond measure and becomes sorrowful even unto death (Matt 26:38). He is subjected to the very pains of hell, and the eternal Son of God cries out in horror that God has forsaken him (Matt 27:46). He sweats great drops as of blood and suffers such anguish that he needs comfort from an angel (Luke 22:43), though he himself comforts all angels. The giver of life to all dies.
If this be done in a green tree, what shall be done in a dry (Luke 23:31)? If this is done to the Just and Holy One, what will be done to sinners? If God punishes our sins this way in the person of his holy Son, how will he punish them in us? How will God go on tolerating in a servant what he punished so severely in his own Son? What will those he condemns suffer, if his only Son, whom he loves so dearly, suffered so much? If Christ, who came into the world without sin, could not leave it without bitter scourging, how much worse a punishment will those deserve who are born in sin, live in sin, and die in sin?
The servant rejoices while the dearly loved Son suffers grievously for the servant’s sin. The servant stores up the Lord’s wrath against himself while the Son labors strenuously to soften and appease the Father’s anger. O God’s infinite wrath! His unspeakable indignation! The inconceivable severity of divine justice!
God brings his holy indignation upon his only-begotten, dearly loved Son, who shares his own divine nature. He does so because the Son has taken the miserable servant’s place, though he has no sin of his own. If God does this, what do you think he will do to the servant who so confidently persists in his sins and offenses?
Let the servant fear, tremble, and grieve deeply at the thought of the punishment he deserves, since the blessed Son is punished this way through no fault of his own. Let the servant fear who never stops sinning while the Son suffers such agony for sin. Let the creature fear who has crucified his Creator. Let the servant fear who has slain his Lord. Let the ungodly person and the sinner be afraid, having afflicted the Holy and Righteous One so severely.
My beloved, let us hear our Savior crying aloud to us. Let us listen as he sheds bitter tears for our sake. From the cross he cries: “Look, sinful human being, at what I am suffering for you. I cry to you because I am dying for you. Look at the punishment inflicted on me! Look at the nails that pierce me. There is no grief like my grief. Yet although my outward sufferings are so great, the agony of my heart is far greater, because I find you so ungrateful.”
Have mercy on us, have mercy on us, O only God of mercy, and turn our stony hearts to you!
Meditation 4: The Name of Jesus
What Could Be Sweeter Than the Name of Jesus!
O blessed Jesus, truly be Jesus to me. For your holy name’s sake, have compassion on me! My life condemns me, but the name of Jesus will save me. For your name’s sake, deal with me according to your name. Since you are a true and great Savior, surely you will look with mercy on those who are real and great sinners. Have mercy on me, blessed Jesus, in the day of mercy, so that you may not condemn me on the day of judgment.
If you receive me into the embrace of your compassion, I will not make it more crowded. If you give me a few crumbs of your goodness, you will be no poorer for it. For me you are born (Isa 9:6); for me you are circumcised; to me also you are Jesus. How sweet and delightful the name of Jesus is! What does Jesus mean but Savior? And what real harm can come to those who are saved? What beyond salvation can we either seek or expect?
Receive me, Lord Jesus, among your children, so that I may praise your holy and saving name with them. If I have lost my original innocence through sin, have I deprived you of your mercy? If I have miserably destroyed and condemned myself, can you not still save me in compassion?
Do not look at my sins, Lord, in such a way that you forget your own mercy. Do not weigh and measure my offenses in such a way that they outweigh your merit. Do not consider my evil in such a way that you overlook your own goodness. Do not remember wrath against a guilty person; remember your mercy toward a miserable sinner.
O Christ, you have given me a desire for you. Will you not fulfill my longing? You have shown me my unworthiness and just condemnation. Will you hide from me your merit and the promise of eternal life? My case must be tried before a heavenly tribunal, but I take comfort that in heaven’s court you have been given the name of Savior. That blessed name was brought from heaven by the angel (Luke 2:21). Most merciful Jesus, to whom will you be Jesus, if not to wretched sinners seeking grace and salvation?
Those who trust in their own righteousness and holiness seek salvation in themselves. But I find nothing in myself worthy of eternal life, so I flee to you as my Savior. Save me, for I am condemned. Have mercy on me, for I am a sinner. Justify me, for I am unrighteous. Acquit me, for I stand accused of sin.
You, Lord, are the Truth (John 14:6). Your name is holy and true. Let your name therefore prove true for me: be my Jesus and my Savior! Be my Jesus in this present life; be my Jesus in death; be my Jesus at the last judgment; be my Jesus in eternal life. And surely you will, blessed Jesus, because you are as unchanging in mercy as you are in your very being. Your name will not change, Lord Jesus, on account of one miserable sinner like me. Indeed, you will be a Savior even to me, for you will not cast out anyone who comes to you. You have given me the desire to come to you, and surely you will receive me when I come, for your words are truth and life (John 6:63).
Even if original sin passed down to me condemns me, you are still my Jesus. Even if my conception in sin condemns me, you are still my Jesus. Even if my creation in sin and under the curse condemns me, you are nevertheless my Savior. Even if my corrupted birth condemns me, you are still my Salvation. Even if the sins of my youth condemn me, you are still my Jesus. Even if the course of my whole life, defiled with the most grievous sin, condemns me, you still remain my Jesus! Even if the penalty of death to be inflicted on me for my sins and various transgressions condemns me, you are still my Savior! Even if the terrible sentence of the last judgment rises against me, I will still trust you and flee to you as my Jesus, my Savior!
I am sinful, rejected, condemned; but in your holy name there is righteousness, election, and salvation. I was baptized in your name. In your name I believe; in your name I will die; in your name I will rise again; and in your blessed name I will appear at the judgment. In your name every conceivable good is provided for my soul and stored up as a sacred treasure.
Alas, how much of this good I have lost through my own distrust! Blessed Jesus, I fervently pray that you will graciously remove this distrust far from me. You so mercifully desire to save me by your precious merit and life-giving name. Grant that I may not condemn myself through my own fault and unbelief.
Questions
Who wrote "Sacred Meditations"?+
Johann Gerhard (1582 to 1637 AD), the German Lutheran theologian and professor at Jena, best known for his Loci Theologici. He published the Meditations in 1606 AD, in his early twenties.
What language was it written in?+
Latin, under the title Meditationes Sacrae. This edition modernizes the English translation by C. W. Heisler, published in 1896.
How many meditations are there?+
Fifty-one. Each begins with a short maxim, such as "A good hope cannot be put to shame" or "To Meditate on Death Is Life."
Is it a Lutheran book?+
Yes. It teaches justification through faith in Christ's merit, baptismal regeneration, and the true presence of Christ's body and blood in the Lord's Supper, and it treats election as something to be sought in Christ and the gospel.
Is there a free PDF or full text in English?+
Yes. All fifty-one meditations in modern English are free on this page as a PDF and EPUB.
Johann Gerhard (1582 to 1637 AD) was a German Lutheran theologian, born at Quedlinburg in Saxony. A severe illness in his teens, and the counsel of his pastor Johann Arndt, turned him to the study of theology, which he pursued at Wittenberg, Jena and Marburg. He wrote the Sacred Meditations in his early twenties and published them in 1606, the year he took his doctorate at Jena. After serving as superintendent at Heldburg and general superintendent at Coburg, he was professor of theology at Jena from 1616 until his death. His Loci Theologici, published in nine volumes from 1610 to 1622, became the standard dogmatics of Lutheran orthodoxy, and he is often ranked with Martin Luther and Martin Chemnitz as one of the three great theologians of the Lutheran Church.
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