A countless number of Christmas hymns have been composed throughout Christian history, but most of them have been lost to popular usage. "Come, your hearts and voices raising" probably doesn't make most top ten lists for Christmas carols, maybe not even a top 50 list. But this is a wonderful hymn of praise written by a little known hymnist named Paul Gerhardt. He was a prolific German hymn writer who gave Lutheranism some of its warmest songs of worship. Paul grew up in a village near Wittenberg, Germany, the son of the town mayor. This part of Germany was devastated during the Thirty Years’ War, and Paul’s childhood was marked by scenes of bloodshed and death. But he had a good mind and heart, and he was able to enroll at the University of Wittenberg at age 21.
After graduation, Paul found a job in Berlin tutoring children. During this time, encouraged by the choirmaster of Berlin’s St. Nicholas’ Church, he began writing hymns. In all, Gerhardt wrote 123 hymns, and his hymnody reflects the shift from the rugged theological hymns of Luther to the more subjective, devotional songs of the German Pietistic revival. Paul Gerhardt must have loved the Christmas season, for he wrote several beautiful nativity hymns. One of his most popular being Come, your hearts and voices raising. It begins: