Above:  Paul Speratus

Image in the Public Domain

Original German Text (1523) by Paul Speratus, during or shortly after his political incarceration (for being a Protestant) in Moravia

Composite Translation

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996), Evangelical Lutheran Synod

This, perhaps the most Lutheran of hymns, is a staple in many Lutheran hymnals.  However, the majority of Lutheran hymnals I have consulted include no more than 10 stanzas.  The full text is 14 stanzas long.

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Salvation unto us is come

By God’s free grace and favor.

Good works cannot avert our doom;

They help and save us never.

Faith looks to Jesus Christ alone,

Who did for all the world atone;

He is our one Redeemer.

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What God doth in His law demand

No man to Him could render.

Before this Judge all guilty stand;

His law speaks curse in thunder.

The law demands a perfect heart;

We were defiled in ev’ry part,

And lost was our condition.

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False dreams deluded minds did fill,

That God His law had given,

As if to Him we could at will

Earn grace and enter heaven.

The law is but a mirror bright

To bring the inbred sin to sight

That lurks within our nature.

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From sin our flesh could not abstain,

Sin held its sway unceasing;

The task was useless and in vain,

Our guilt was e’er increasing.

None can remove sin’s poisoned dart

Or purify our guilty heart,

So deep is our corruption.

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Still all the law fulfilled must be,

Else we were lost forever,

Then God His Son send down that He

Might us from doom deliver;

He all the law for us fulfilled

And thus His Father’s anger stilled

Which over us impended.

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As Christ hath full atonement made

And brought us to salvation,

So may each Christian now be glad

And build on this foundation:

Thy grace alone, dear Lord, I plead,

Thy death now is my life indeed,

For Thou hast paid my ransom.

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Not doubting this, I trust in Thee,

Thy Word cannot be broken,

Thou all dost call, “Come unto me!”

No falsehood hast Thou spoken:

“He who believes and is baptized,

He shall be saved,” say’st Thou, O Christ,

And he shall never perish.

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The just is he–and he alone–

Who by this faith is living,

The faith that by good works is shown,

To God the glory giving;

Faith gives thee peace with God above,

But thou thy neighbor, too, must love,

If thou art new created.

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The law reveals the guilt of sin,

And makes man conscience-stricken;

The gospel then doth enter in,

The sin-sick soul to quicken.

Come to the cross, look up and live!

The law no peace to thee doth give,

Nor can its deeds bring comfort.

+++++

Faith to the cross of Christ doth cling

And rests in Him securely;

And forth from it good works must spring

As fruits and tokens surely;

Still faith doth justify alone,

Works serve thy neighbor and make known

The faith that lives within thee.

+++++

Hope waits for the accepted hour

Till God give joy for mourning;

When He displays His healing pow’r,

Thy sighs to songs are turning.

Thy needs are known unto thy Lord,

And He is faithful to His Word,

This is our hope’s foundation.

+++++

Though it may seem He hears thee not,

Count not thyself forsaken;

Thy wants are ne’er by Him forgot,

Let this thy hope awaken;

His word is sure, here is thy stay,

Though doubts may plague thee on thy way,

Let not thy faith be shaken.

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All blessing, honor, thanks and praise,

To Father, Son, and Spirit,

The God who saved us by His grace,

All glory to His merit.

O Father in the heav’ns above,

The work begun performs Thy love,

Thy worthy name be hallowed.

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Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done

In earth, as ’tis in heaven.

Keep us in live, by grace led on,

Forgiving and forgiven;

Save Thou us in temptation’s hour,

And from all ills; Thine is the pow’r,

And all the glory, Amen!

Image in the Public Domain

Hymn Source = The Hymnal and Order of Service (1925), The Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod

Paraphrase (1924) of Psalm 139:23 and 24 by Claus August Wendell (1866-1950)

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Search me, God, and know my heart,

Lord of truth and mercy;

Try me, Thou who from afar

Knowest all my secrets;

And if any wicked way

Should be found within me,

Blessed Saviour, lead Thou me

In the way eternal.

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The Service Book and Hymnal (immediate predecessors of the American Lutheran Church [1960] and the Lutheran Church in America [1962], 1958) also contains the above text verbatim.

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The Lutheran Book of Worship (immediate predecessors of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America [1987], 1978) modernizes the text and makes it the second verse of a composite hymn, with a new first verse (beginning with “Wondrous are your ways, O God!”) by Joel W. Lundeen.  The modernized version of the text by Wendell follows:

Search me, God, and know my heart,

Lord of truth and mercy.

From afar, O Lord, you know

All my thoughts and secrets.

And if any wicked way

Should be found within me,

Cleanse, forgive me by your grace;

Grant me life eternal.

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Christian Worship:  A Lutheran Hymnal (Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, 1993) also modernizes the Wendell text and uses it as the second verse of a composite hymn.  However, this hymn book alters the Lundeen text.

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The text by Wendell is absent from the current Lutheran  denominational hymnals in my collection:

1. Ambassador Hymnal for Lutheran Worship (The Association of Free Lutheran Congregations, 1994),
2. Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (The Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal, 1996),
3. Worship Supplement 2000 (Church of the Lutheran Confession, 2000),
4. Evangelical Lutheran Worship (Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, 2006), and
5. Lutheran Service Book (The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, 2006).

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KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JUNE 11, 2016 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF SAINT BARNABAS THE APOSTLE, COWORKER OF SAINT PAUL THE APOSTLE

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Above:  Apotheosis of War, by Vasily Vereshchagin

Image in the Public Domain

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This is a hymn for use in time of war.  Sadly, we human beings keep acting is ways which keep the sentiments of the hymn current.

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This is one of those great Anglican contributions to English-language hymnody.

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PART THE FIRST:  THE BEGINNING

The story begins with Henry Fothergill Chorley (1808-1872), a Quaker-born novelist, playwright, libretticist, and literary and music critic in London, England, the United Kingdom.  In 1842 he published a hymn, “God, the All-Terrible! Thou Who Ordainest.”  My sources identified the the publication as having occurred in Part Music (1842), by John Pike Hullah (1812-1884).  A search at hymnary.org led me to my reprint of the Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes (Henry Ward Beecher, Plymouth Congregational Church, Brooklyn, New York, 1855), where I found these verses:

1.  God, the all-terrible! Thou who ordainest

Thunder Thy clarion, and lightning Thy sword;

Show forth Thy pity on high where Thou reignest,

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

2.  God, the Omnipotent! mighty Avenger,

Watching invisible, judging unheard;

Save us in mercy, O save us from danger,

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

3.  God, the all-merciful! earth hath forsaken

Thy ways all holy, and slighted Thy word;

But not Thy wrath in its terror awaken,

Give to us pardon and peace, O Lord.

4.  So will Thy people with thankful devotion,

Praise Him who saved them from peril and sword;

Shouting in chorus, from ocean to ocean,

Peace to the nations, and praise to the Lord.

(Hymn #1101)

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PART THE SECOND:  UNITARIANS DURING THE CIVIL WAR

Hymns of the Spirit (American Unitarian Association, 1864), included an abbreviated and different version of the text, starting with the second stanza.  Thus the hymn became “God, the Omnipotent! Mighty Avenger!”  The context of the U.S. Civil War was evident:

1.  God the Omnipotent! mighty Avenger!

Watching invisible, judging unheard!

Save Thou our land in the hour of her danger,

Give to us peace in Thy time, O Lord!

2.  Thunder and lightnings Thy judgment have sounded;

Letters of flame have recorded Thy word,

‘Only in righteousness true peace is founded’:

Give us that peace in Thy time, O Lord!

3.  So shall the people, with thankful devotion,

Praise Him who saved them from peril and sword;

Shouting in chorus, from ocean to ocean,–

‘Peace to the nation, and praise to the Lord!’

(Hymn #262)

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PART THE THIRD:  ENTER JOHN ELLERTON

In 1870, during the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), John Ellerton (1826-1893), a priest of The Church of England and author of no fewer than 86 hymns, wrote “God the Almighty One, Wisely Ordaining,” based on Chorley’s hymn.  The text debuted in Robert Brown-Borthwick’s Select Hymns for Church and Home (The Church of England, 1871).  I found the original version of that hymn via Google Books.

1.  God the Almighty One, wisely ordaining

Judgments unsearchable, famine and sword;

Over the tumult of war Thou are reigning;

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord!

2.  God the All-righteous One! man hath defied Thee;

Yet to eternity standeth Thy word;

Falsehood and wrong shall not tarry beside Thee;

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord!

3.  God the All-pitiful, is it not crying,

Blood of the guiltless like water outpoured?

Look on the anguish, the sorrow, the sighing;

Give to us peace in our time, O Lord!

4.  God, the All-wise! by the fire of Thy chastening

Earth shall to freedom and truth be restored;

Through the thick darkness Thy kingdom is hast’ning,

Thou wilt give peace in Thy time, O Lord!

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PART THE FOURTH:  THE JOINING AND SUBSEQUENT VARIATIONS AND ALTERATIONS

The first joining of the Chorley and Ellerton texts occurred in the 1874 revision of Church Hymns (The Church of England, 1871), as one can read for oneself by following the hyperlink and seeking hymn #262.  Since then many hymnals have contained various composites of the Chorley and Ellerton texts, frequently with alterations to them.  The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) contained the hymn, but listed it as “God, Lord of Sabaoth, Thou Who Ordainest.”  The hymn was “God the All-Merciful! Earth Hath Forsaken” in the Common Service Book of the Lutheran Church (1917) but “God the Omnipotent! King, Who Ordainest” in the Service Book and Hymnal (1958).  The influential Hymnal (Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., 1895) and its successor from 1911 listed the hymn as “God, the All-Terrible,” but The Hymnal (1933) changed the title to “God the Omnipotent.”  Among more conservative Presbyterians (especially in the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in America) who use either the 1961 or the 1990 versions of the Trinity Hymnal, God remains “All-terrible.”  God was “All-terrible” in The Methodist Hymnal (Methodist Episcopal Church and Methodist Episcopal Church, South, 1905), but “Omnipotent” in The Methodist Hymnal of 1935 (Methodist Episcopal Church, Methodist Protestant Church, and Methodist Episcopal Church, South; later The Methodist Church, 1939-1968).  As late as The Hymnal of 1918 (Episcopal Church, authorized in 1916) God was “All-Terrible,” but the deity was “Omnipotent” instead in The Hymnal 1940 (published in 1943).  The consensus among hymnal committees is that God is “Omnipotent,” not “All-terrible.”

The variation on the hymn in The Hymnal 1982 (Episcopal Church, 1985) contains four stanzas–two from Chorley, two from Ellerton, and all of them altered.  This is the version I sing in church:

1.  God the Omnipotent! King, who ordainest

thunder thy clarion, the lightning thy sword;

show forth thy pity on high where thou reignest:

give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

2.  God the All-merciful! earth hath forsaken

thy ways all holy, and slighted thy word;

bid not thy wrath in its terrors awaken:

give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

3.  God, the All-righteous One! earth hath defied thee;

yet eternity standeth thy word,

falsehood and wrong shall not tarry beside thee:

give to us peace in our time, O Lord.

4.  God the All-provident! earth by thy chastening

yet shall to freedom and truth be restored;

through the thick darkness thy kingdom is hastening:

thou wilt give peace in thy time, O Lord.

Hymn writer Brian Wren (1936-) wrote of hymns in Praying Twice:  The Music and Words of Congregational Song (Louisville, KY:  Westminster John Knox Press, 2000, page 297):

I have shown that congregational songs are communal.  Though they usually originate from particular authors, their primary purpose is to give shared expression to shared experience, not parade the author’s personality.  Because they are communal a faith community may, in principle amend them.

The story of “God the Omnipotent!” fits that statement well.

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PART THE FIFTH:  DROPPING THE HYMN

Denominations revise their official hymnals from time to time.  In so doing they add some texts and remove others.  Here is a partial list of denominations which have removed “God the Omnipotent!” (however they have listed it) from their official hymnody as of 2015, based on hymnals of which I own physical copies:

1. the American Baptist Churches U.S.A., during their transition from the Hymnbook for Christian Worship (1970) to no official hymnal;
2. the Anglican Church of Canada, during the transition from The Hymn Book of the Anglican Church of Canada and the United Church of Canada (1971) to Common Praise (1998);
3. the Evangelical Covenant Church of America, during the transition from The Covenant Hymnal (1973) to The Covenant Hymnal:  A Worshipbook (1996);
4. the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, during the transition from the Lutheran Book of Worship (1978) to Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006);
5. The Evangelical Lutheran Synod, during the transition from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) to the Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996);
6. the Free Methodist Church of North America and the Wesleyan Church, during their transition from Hymns of Faith and Life (1976) to no official hymnal;
7. The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, during its transition from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) to Lutheran Worship (1982) and the Lutheran Service Book (2006);
8. the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), by way of its predecessors, the Presbyterian Church in the United States and The United Presbyterian Church in the U.S.A., during the transition from The Hymnbook (1955) to The Worshipbook–Services and Hymns (1972);
9. the Reformed Church in America, during its transition from Rejoice in the Lord:  A Hymn Companion to the Scriptures (1985) to Lift Up Your Hearts:  Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs (2013);
10. the Southern Baptist Convention, during the transition from Baptist Hymnal (1956) to Baptist Hymnal (1975); the text is absent even from the Cooperative Baptist Fellowship‘s Celebrating Grace Hymnal (2010);
11. the Unitarian Universalist Association, sometime after Hymns of the Spirit (American Unitarian Association, 1864) and before Hymns of the Spirit (American Unitarian Association and Universalist Church of America, 1937);
12. The United Methodist Church, during its transition from The Hymnal of the Evangelical United Brethren Church (1957) and The Methodist Hymnal/The Book of Hymns (1966) to The United Methodist Hymnal:  Book of United Methodist Worship (1992); and
13. the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod, during the transition from The Lutheran Hymnal (1941) to Christian Worship:  A Lutheran Hymnal (1993); neither is the hymn present in Christian Worship:  Supplement (2008).

That list covers a wide theological range.  So does the list of denominations which have retained it–from The Episcopal Church to the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) to the United Church of Christ to the Orthodox Presbyterian Church and the Presbyterian Church in America.  The list of denominations which have never added it to their official hymnody is also diverse, ranging from the Christian Reformed Church of North America to the Church of Nazarene.  Sometimes the presence or absence of the hymn indicates more about tastes in hymnody and worship style than about theology.

Another piece of supporting evidence for that conclusion comes from two non-denominational Evangelical hymnals Tom Fettke edited:  The Hymnal for Worship & Celebration (1986) and The Celebration Hymnal:  Songs and Hymns for Worship (1997).  The former contains the hymn which is the subject of this post, but the latter does not.  A Victorian hymn set to the majestic former Russian national anthem does not fit with contemporary worship, with its seven-eleven songs, does it?

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

JULY 21, 2015 COMMON ERA

THE FEAST OF J. B. PHILLIPS, BIBLE TRANSLATOR AND ANGLICAN PRIEST

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Above:  One of My Crucifixes

Image Source = Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Original Words by Michal Grodzki (Circa 1550)

English Translation (1939) by John Bajus (1901-1971)

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996), Evangelical Lutheran Synod

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1.  Jesus Christ, our Lord most holy,

Lamb of God so pure and lowly,

Blameless, blameless, on the cross art offered,

Sinless, sinless, for our sins hast suffered.

2.  Weep now, all ye wretched creatures,

As ye view His gracious features.

Jesus, Jesus, on the cross is dying,

Nature, nature, in dark gloom is sighing.

3.  Christ, his last word having spoken,

Bows His head as life is broken.

Mournful, mournful, stands His mother weeping,

Loved ones, loved ones, silent watch are keeping.

4.  The great veil was torn asunder,

Earth did quake mid roars of thunder,

Boulders, boulders, into bits were breaking,

Sainted, sainted dead from death were waking.

5.  As His side with spear was riven,

Blood and water forth were given.

Jesus, Jesus, sinners’ only Savior,

Mercy, mercy, grant to us forever.

Above:  The Luther Rose

Scan by Kenneth Randolph Taylor

Anna Bernadine Dorothy Hoppe (1889-1941), of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, was one of the best hymn writers and translators the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod (WELS) produced.  Her texts seem to have fallen out of favor with editorial committees recent North American Lutheran hymnals, however.  My survey of the most recent denominational hymnals (1993-2006) among North American Lutherans has yielded the following results:

1. Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996, The Evangelical Lutheran Synod) and Evangelical Lutheran Worship (2006, the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America)–no Hoppe hymns;
2. Christian Worship:  A Lutheran Hymnal (1993, the Wisconsin Evangelical Lutheran Synod) and Lutheran Service Book (2006, The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod)–one Hoppe hymn each; and
3. Ambassador Hymnal for Lutheran Worship (1994, Association of Free Lutheran Congregations)–two Hoppe hymns.

Also, The Covenant Hymnal:  A Worshipbook (1996, the Evangelical Covenant Church of America, a close relation to Scandinavian Lutheranism) contains one Hoppe hymn.

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By Nature Deaf to Things Divine:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/by-nature-deaf-to-things-divine/

Desire of Every Nation:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/desire-of-every-nation/

Eternal God, Our Father:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/eternal-god-our-father/

Have Ye Heard the Invitation:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/have-ye-heard-the-invitation/

Heavenly Sower, Thou Hast Scattered:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/heavenly-sower-thou-hast-scattered/

How Blest Are They Who Through the Power of Heaven-Kindled Faith:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/how-blest-are-they-who-through-the-power-of-heaven-kindled-faith/

I Open Wide the Portals of My Heart:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/i-open-wide-the-portals-of-my-heart/

Jesus, O Precious Name:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/jesus-o-precious-name/

Like Enoch, Let Me Ever Walk With Thee:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/let-enoch-let-me-ever-walk-with-thee/

Lord Jesus Christ, the Children’s Friend:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/lord-jesus-christ-the-childrens-friend/

O Dear Redeemer Crucified:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/o-dear-redeemer-crucified/

O Father Mine, Whose Mercies Never Cease:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/o-father-mine-whose-mercies-never-cease/

O Friend of Sinners, Son of God:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/o-friend-of-sinners-son-of-god/

O Precious Saviour, Heal and Bless:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/o-precious-saviour-heal-and-bless/

The Sower Goeth Forth to Sow:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/the-sower-goeth-forth-to-sow/

This Night a Wondrous Revelation:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/this-night-a-wondrous-revelation/

Thou Goest to Jerusalem:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/thou-goest-to-jerusalem/

Thou Hast Indeed Made Manifest:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/thou-hast-indeed-made-manifest/

Thou Lord of Life and Death:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/02/06/thou-lord-of-life-and-death/

Jesus, Thou from Death Hast Risen:

https://gatheredprayers.wordpress.com/2015/09/14/jesus-thou-from-death-hast-risen/

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Above:  The Cathedral of St. Philip, Atlanta, Georgia, January 23, 2014

Image Source = Bill Monk, Episcopal Diocese of Atlanta

Original German Words by Benjamin Schmolck (1672-1737)

English Translation by Alfred Ramsey (1860-1926)

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996), Evangelical Lutheran Synod

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1.  O how holy is this place

Where the Lord a house hath given!

Here we come before His face;

This must be the gate of heaven.

Here His Word proclaims His grace.

O how holy is this place!

2.  Thousand thanks, great God, arise

Unto Thee, in grace excelling.

Who, though filling all the skies,

Yet dost make this house Thy dwelling,

And to us dost here dispense

Thy pure Word and Sacraments.

3.  Hither to upon this house

Hath salvation surely rested.

Here our God hath been with us,

And Himself hath manifested.

Here His Spirit He hath giv’n

To reveal the way to heav’n.

4.  O how lovely, meet and right

In His temple to a adore Him!

Let us now in Him delight,

And with gladness come before Him.

Treasures lasting, precious pure,

From above we here secure.

5.  Dearest Guest, with us abide,

With Thy holy Word still feed us;

Hitherto by Thee supplied,

Still by living waters lead us!

Keep Thy Church secure

While the earth itself endure.

Above:  Christ in Majesty Icon

Image in the Public Domain

Original German Words by Philip Friedrich Hiller (1699-1769)

English Translation by Joseph Augustus Seiss (1823-1904)

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996), Evangelical Lutheran Synod

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1.  O Son of God, we wait for Thee,

We long for Thine appearing;

We know Thou sittest on the throne,

And we Thy name are bearing.

Who trusts in Thee,

May joyful be,

And see Thee, Lord, descending,

To bring us bliss unending.

2.  We wait for Thee, ‘mid toil and pain,

In weariness and sighing;

But glad that Thou our guilt hast borne,

And cancelled it by dying.

Hence, cheerfully

May we with Thee

Take up our cross and bear it,

Till we relief inherit.

3.  We wait for Thee; here Thou hast won

Our hearts to hope and duty;

But while our spirits feel Thee near,

Our eyes would see Thy beauty;

We fain would be

At rest with Thee

In peace and joy supernal,

In glorious life eternal.

4.  We wait for Thee; soon Thou wilt come,

The time is swiftly nearing;

In this we also do rejoice,

And long for Thine appearing,

O bliss ’twill be

When Thee we see,

Homeward Thy people bringing,

With transport and with singing!

Above:  Christ the Merciful

Image in the Public Domain

Original Danish Words by Hans Adolf Brorson (1694-1764)

English Translation (1898) by Harriet Reynolds Krauth Spaeth (1845-1925)

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996), Evangelical Lutheran Synod

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1.  Thy little ones, dear Lord, we are,

And come Thy holy bed to see;

Enlighten ev’ry soul and mind

That we the way to Thee may find.

2.  With songs we hasten Thee to greet

And kiss the dust before Thy feet;

O blessed hour, O sweetest night,

That gave Thee birth, our soul’s delight.

3.  Now welcome! From Thy heav’nly home

Thou to our vale of tears art come;

Man hath no off’ring for Thee save

The stable, manger, cross, and grave.

4.  Jesus, alas! how can it be

So few bestow a thought on Thee

Or on the love, so wondrous great,

That drew Thee down to our estate?

5.  O draw us wholly to Thee, Lord,

Do Thou to us Thy grace accord,

True faith and love to us impart,

That we may hold Thee in our heart.

6.  Keep us, howe’er the world may lure,

In our baptismal cov’nant pure;

That ev’ry yearning thought may be

Directed only unto Thee

7.  Until at last we, too, proclaim,

With all Thy saints, Thy glorious name;

In Paradise our songs renew,

And praise Thee as the angels do.

8.  We gather round Thee, Jesus dear,

So happy in Thy presence here;

Grant us, our Savior, ev’ry one,

To stand in heav’n before Thy throne.

Above:  Ghent Altarpiece, by Jan van Eyck

Image in the Public Domain

Original Danish Words by Hans Adolf Brorson (1694-1764)

English Translation by Olav Lee (1859-1943), a Norwegian-American Lutheran minister and professor at Augustana and St. Olaf Colleges

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996), Evangelical Lutheran Synod

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1.  I see Thee standing, Lamb of God,

Now at Thy Father’s right;

But O how painful was Thy road

That led to Zion’s height!

And what a burden Thou didst bear:

The world’s distress and shame,

That made Thee sink, our woe to share,

To depths that none can name.

2.  O spotless Lamb, it was Thy will

In love thus bound to be

Upon the cross on Calv’ry’s hill

From sin to set us free.

What lion strength Thy nail-pierced hands

Our death the death-blow gave,

And broken were our prison bands

When Thou didst rend Thy grave.

3.  Around Thy throne a throng doth stream

In raiment white as snow,

Their eyes like suns with radiance beam

The Lamb of God to know.

The story, how He chose to be

A Servant for our sake,

The angels will eternally

Their anthems’ burden make.

4.  Twelve times twelve thousand Thee acclaim,

Each with his harp in hand,

Upon their brow Thy Father’s name

Makes known that happy band.

As voice of many waters rise

Their rapt’rous symphony;

To Thee who us Paradise

Eternal praises be.

Above:  Sheep and Shepherds, Palestine, Between 1934 and 1939

Image Source = Library of Congress

Reproduction Number = LC-DIG-matpc-22229

Original Danish Words by Anders Christensen Arrebo (1587-1637)

English Translation by Carl Doving (1867-1937)

Hymn Source = Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (1996), Evangelical Lutheran Synod

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1.  The Lord my faithful Shepherd is,

And me he safely guideth;

I shall not want, for I am His

Who all things good provideth.

I follow Him, I hear His voice,

In Him my Lord I do rejoice

Blest am I in His keeping!

2.  A tender shepherd leads his sheep

Where pastures green are growing,

And there His flock doth guard and keep

Beside the waters flowing.

Thus Christ, my Shepherd, leadeth me,

My soul and body feedeth He

And for their wants provideth.

3.  And if I ever go astray,

My wayward soul He turneth,

To save the lost, to guide the way,

For this He ever yearneth;

He leadeth me, my soul to bless

In His own path of righteousness

For His name’s sake and glory.

4.  Why should I ever fear, O Lord,

Whilst Thee I have beside me?

Thou by Thy Spirit and Thy Word

Dost comfort and dost guide me.

In death’s dark vale I’ll fear no ill,

For Thou, O Lord, art with me still,

Thy rod and staff shall stay me.

5.  Thou art my host; for me, Thy guest,

A table Thou providest.

Thou foes be near, I am at rest,

Thou still with me abidest.

With oil anointest Thou my head,

Oh me Thy blessing rich is shed,

My cup with bliss o’erfloweth.

6.  Thy goodness and Thy mercy, Lord,

Shall follow me, attending

The days Thou dost to me afford

Until they reach their ending.

Thereafter shall I in Thy love

Dwell in Thy house in heav’n above

Forever and forever.