Bach’s S.D.G.

 

A while back I wrote a Blog about humility.  I pointed out that humility doesn’t come easily to us human beings.  I should perhaps have put it even more strongly, that in an age and culture in which we’re told to take the attitude that “it’s all about me”, humility becomes an ever more rare virtue.

Someone once pointed out that when I point the finger at others there are always three fingers pointing back at me.  True – and I’m acutely aware that humility has too often been lacking in me as well.  Confession time...?  Sure!  Amongst the earliest motivations for me to become a pastor and preacher was a distinct touch of arrogance... instead of humility.  I grew up in a church that was part of a post-war migrant community.  Our earliest pastors and preachers were Dutch imports for whom English was their second language.  I suspect that they made their sermons in Dutch and then translated them into English.  I recall that on many a Sunday I would sit in church and during their sermons be busy mentally correcting their grammar as they preached.  On one or two occasions I even thought that I could say it much better than they did.  I’d love to think my chief concern in those moments was for the gospel to be preached with greater clarity... but I’m sure there was a goodly measure of teenage arrogance involved – and I’m not proud of that lack of humility.

In my practical training year for the Gospel ministry I had, as my mentor, an older colleague who has since been promoted to glory.  I recall that when candidates were being examined by our churches for admission to the pastoral ministry he always had an additional standard by which he judged their suitability.  When their sermon had been passed and their theology and Bible knowledge had been approved, he would comment, “He’s a humble fellow, I support the sustaining of his examination.”

But humility does not come easily.  It seems that our ‘default option’ as human beings is pride.  That should not surprise any of us, since the Bible tells us on more than one occasion that the devil’s great sin was pride.  Furthermore the first temptation (back in the Garden of Eden) was an appeal to human pride: to be like God.  No!  Humility does not come easily.  I’m sure that you too can think of instances in your own life when pride raised its ugly head and you too had to rebuke yourself for your lack of humility.

All of this came to mind when I was reading something about the composer Johann Sebastian Bach.  Bach was not only the classical composer of Baroque Music, he was also a devout Lutheran.  It’s interesting that Bach had the practice of putting the letters SDG at the end of his works.  These letters became his signature and stood for the Latin expression Soli Deo Gloria: “to God alone the glory”.  I don’t know whether Johann Sebastian was sometimes tempted to be proud and that those letters helped keep the famous composer humble.

Bach’s SDG signature to his musical compositions also brought to mind the prayers of my grandfather.  He was a godly old man and as a lad I often fidgeted through his prayers because they were long.  Mum always deferred to our live-in granddad to say grace when Dad was not home.  But very frequently he would begin his prayer with the words, “Not to us, O Lord, not to us but to your name be the glory”.  Many years later I discovered that those were actually the opening words of Psalm 115.

I mentioned in my previous Blog on humility that pride is one of the so-called ‘seven deadly sins’.  It’s deadly because pride prevents many from embracing the gospel with a believing heart.  One needs to become like a child to enter the Kingdom of heaven.  It’s not surprising then to realise that there are more than a hundred references in the Bible to pride.  Invariably these references are not complimentary.  Perhaps their overall thrust is best summed up in Proverbs 16:5 “Everyone who is proud in heart is an abomination to the LORD.”

In today’s culture that tells me that “it’s all about me” Bach’s practice of signing off on his music manuscripts with the letters SDG is a good reminder for me that Soli Deo Gloria ought to motivate me to humility in everything that I do.

John Westendorp
2MaxFM - 3rd Aug. 2025


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