Though the name is al­most un­i­ver­sal­ly shown as the Germanized “Tersteegen,” his real name was Dutch: Gerrit ter Steegen. His fa­ther aband­oned his mo­ther, and Gerhard grew up in po­ver­ty. He want­ed to stu­dy the­ol­o­gy, but could not af­ford an ed­u­ca­tion, so he went into com­merce in­stead; he first worked in Mül­heim an der Ruhr (near Moers and Duis­burg). But Ger­hard pre­ferred the sol­i­tary life, so he gave up his sales job and worked as a weav­er, knit­ting rib­bons, stu­dy­ing at home in cloister-like asce­ti­cism, and read­ing the­o­lo­gic­al books. He be­came an out­stand­ing lay the­o­lo­gian, lay pas­tor, and mys­tic of the Pro­test­ant Pietism move­ment. From 1728 on, he was an itin­er­ant preach­er in the Pro­test­ant Er­weck­ungs­be­weg­ung (“spir­i­tu­al awak­en­ing move­ment”) in the Niederrhein re­gion, and host­ed home wor­ship and pray­er meet­ings.

Tersteegen was one of the two most fa­mous 18th Century German hymn writ­ers (the other be­ing Joachim Neander). Be­gin­ning in 1729, he edit­ed his fa­mous book Geist­lich­es Blum­en­gärt­lein in­ni­ger Seelen (Spir­i­tu­al Flow­er Garden for Ardent Souls), a col­lect­ion of hymns, spir­i­tu­al lyr­ics and ep­i­grams.

Sources

Hymns

1. Ach Gott, es taugt doch draussen nicht
   • Ah God! The World Has Nought to Please
2. Ach, könnt ich stille stein
   • Ah, Could I But Be Still
   • Oh! Could I But Be Still
3. Allgenugsam Wesen
   • All-Sufficient Being
   • Thou All-Sufficient One! Who Art
   • Thou, Whose Love Unshaken
4. Bald endet sich mein Pil­ger­weg
   • Weary Heart, Be Not Desponding
5. Berufne Seelen! Schlafet nicht
   • Ye Sleeping Souls, Awake from Dreams of Carnal Ease
   • Sleep Not, O Soul by God Awakened
6. Das ässre Sonnenlicht ist da
   • Outer Sunlight Now Is There, The
   • World’s Bright Sun Is Risen on High, The
7. Das Kreuz ist dennoch gut
   • Cross Is Ever Good, The
8. Die Blümlein klein und gross in mein­es Herr­en Gar­ten
   • Flowers That in Jesu’s Gar­den Have a Place
   • Full Many Flowers, in My Lord’s Garden Bloom­ing
9. Die Liebe will was ganzes haben
   • Love Doth the Whole–Not Part–Desire
10. Du schönstes Gotteskind
    • Thou Fair­est Child Di­vine
11. Freue dich, du Kin­der-Or­den
    • Children Rejoice, for God Is Come to Earth
    • Little Child­ren, God Above
12. Für dich sei ganz mein Herz und Le­ben
    • Constrain’d by Love So Warm and Ten­der
    • My Soul Adores the Might of Lov­ing
13. Gott ist ge­gen­wär­tig
    • God Him­self Is with Us
    • God Re­veals His Pre­sence
    • Lo, God Is Here!
14. Gott ru­fet noch, sollt ich nicht end­lich hör­en
    • God Call­ing Yet
15. Grosser Gott, in dem ich schwebe
    • God, in Whom I Have My Be­ing
16. Jauchzet ihr Him­mel! froh­lock­et ihr eng­lische Chör­en
    • Triumph, Ye Heav­ens!
17. Jedes Herz will et­was lieb­en
    • Heart of Man Must Some­thing Love, The
    • Something Ev­ery Heart Is Lov­ing
18. Jesu, Den Ich Meine
    • Jesus, Whom I Long For
19. Jesu, der du bist alleine
    • Jesus, Whom Thy Church Doth Own
20. Jesu, mein Erbarmer! h&oum;re
    • Jesus, Pitying Savior, Hear Me
21. Nun so will ich denn mein Leben
    • Lo! My Choice Is Now Decided
    • Now at Last I End the Strife
22. Jesus-Nam, du höchster Name
    • Jesu’s Name, Thou Highest Name
23. Liebwerther, süsser Gottes-Wille
    • Thou Sweet Beloved Will of God
    • O Will of God, All Sweet and Perfect
24. Mein ganzer Sinn
    • My Whole Desire Doth Deeply Turn Away
25. Mein Gott, mein Gott, mein wahres Leben
    • My God, My God, My Life Divine!
26. Mein Herz, ein Eisen grob und alt
    • A Rough and Shapeless Block of Iron Is My Heart
27. Mein’n Augenblick
    • Each Moment I Turn Me
28. Nun lobet alle Gottes Sohn
    • Give Glory to the Son of God
29. O Jesu, König, hoch zu ehren
    • O Jesus, Lord of Majesty
30. O liebe Seele! könnst du werden
    • Dear Soul, Couldst Thou Become a Child
    • Soul! Couldst Thou, While on Earth Remaining
    • Wouldst Thou, My Soul, the Secret Find
31. Siegesfürste, Ehrnkönig
    • Conquering Prince and Lord of Glory
32. So gehts von Schritt zu Schritt
    • Thus, Step by Step, My Journey to the Infinite
33. So ist denn doch nun abermal ein Jahr
    • Thus, When Another Year of Pilgrim-Life
34. Sollt ich nicht gelassen sein
    • Should I Not Be Meek and Still
35. Verborgne Gott­es­lie­be du
    • Thou Hid­den Love of God
36. Von allen Dingen ab
    • From All Created Things
37. Wie bist du mir so innig gut
    • How Gracious, Kind, and Good, My Great High Priest Art Thou
38. Wie gut ists, wenn man abgespehnt
    • How Sweet It Is, When, Wean’d from All
39. Wiederum ein Augenblick
    • Of My Time One Minute More
    • One More Flying Moment
40. Willkomm’n, verklärter Gottes Sohn
    • Glorious Head, Thou Livest Now