Watching for the Lord to come is the subject of this hymn, based on Jesus’ parable of the 10 virgins, recorded in Matthew 25:1-7. It was first published by Laurentius Laurenti in his Evangelica Melodica, 1700, a collection of words and music for the entire Christian church year.

Lorenz Lorenzen was born June 8, 1660, in Schleswig (at that time a duchy ruled by Denmark). His father was a town burgess and loved music, so he saw to it that his son was musically educated. Lorenzen studied at the University of Rostock and in the city of Kiel, where he changed his name to the Latin version, Laurentius Laurenti. In 1684 he became cantor and director of music at the Cathedral Church of Bremen, Germany, and held this position for 38 years until his death on May 29, 1722.

Sarah Laurie (Borthwick) Findlater’s translation appeared in Hymns From the Land of Luther, 1854, to which she contributed 53 hymns. Her sister Jane Bothwick (see SDAH 357) contributed the other 69 items. Sarah was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, on November 26, 1823. Her father was an insurance executive. A naturally gifted poet, she became the wife of Erick Findlater, pastor of the Free Church of Scotland at Lochearnhead, Perthshire. She died at Torquay, Devonshire, on December 25, 1907. The translations made by these Borthwick sisters are universally considered to be of high quality.

GREENLAND is from the Lausanne Psalter, 1790, and received the name from later use with Heber’s “From Greenland’s Icy Mountains.” The music is thought to be one of the verses from Michael Haydn’s “Services for Country Churches.” On Johann Michael Haydn, see SDAH 83.

📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.