How Shall I Meet My Saviour?

Above:  Diocesan Confirmation, the Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta, Georgia, December 14, 2014

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

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VERSION #1

Hymn Source = Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church (Unitas Fratrum) (1923), Moravian Church in America

Original German Text (1653) by Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676)

English Translation (1851) by Arthur Tozer Russell (1806-1874)

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1.  How shall I meet my Saviour?

How shall I welcome Thee?

What manner of behavior

Is now required of me?

I wait for my salvation;

Grant me Thy Spirit’s light;

Thus will my preparation

Be pleasing in Thy sight.

2.  While with her sweetest flowers

Thy Zion strews Thy way,

I’ll raise with all my powers

To Thee a grateful lay;

To Thee, the King of glory,

I’ll tune a song divine,

And make Thy love’s bright story

In graceful members shine.

3.  Love caused Thine incarnation;

Love brought Thee down to me;

Thy thirst for my salvation

Procured my liberty;

O love beyond all telling,

That led Thee to embrace,

In love all excelling,

Our lost and fallen race!

4.  Rejoice, then, ye sad-hearted,

Who sit in deepest gloom,

Who mourn o’er joys departed,

And tremble at your doom;

He Who alone can cheer you

Is standing at the door;

He brings His pity near you

And bids you weep no more.

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VERSION #2

Hymn Source = Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church (1969), Moravian Church in America

Original German Text (1653) by Paul Gerhardt (1607-1676)

English Translation (1851) by Arthur Tozer Russell (1806-1874)

Altered English Translation (1963) by Edward Timothy Mickey, Jr. (1908-1986)

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1.  How shall I meet my Saviour?

How shall I truly welcome Thee?

What manner of behavior

Is by love required of me?

I wait for Thy salvation;

Grant me, O Lord, Thy Spirit’s light;

And may my preparation

Be well accepted in Thy sight.

2.  While with her sweetest flowers

Thy waiting Zion strews Thy way,

I’ll raise with all my powers,

Saviour, to Thee a grateful lay;

To Thee, the King of glory,

My heart will tune a song divine

And make Thy love’s bright story

Through me in living witness shine.

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