Tune: Ach Gott, wie manches
-
Oh God, how many miseries
Assault and discompose my peace!
The path that leads to heaven’s gate
Is full of trials and very strait. -
How hard it is for flesh and blood
To seek the everlasting Good!
Oh where then shall I turn my face?
Lord Christ, to Thy redeeming grace. -
My heart has never been dismayed
Whene’er in Thee it looked for aid;
No mortal yet was ever lost
Who put in Christ alone his trust. -
That Thou art God as well as Man,
Lord, Thy redemption makes it plain.
No greater wonder has been heard
Than this: that God in flesh appeared. -
He saved us by His death and tomb
From sin and from the wrath to come!
My Jesus, God and Lord alone,
What name is sweeter than Thine own? -
No grief can ever be so sore
But Thy salvation cheers us more,
No pain so raging but Thy Name
Can still assuage and heal the same. -
Nay, though my flesh and heart should fail,
Thy presence, Lord, will yet prevail;
Enjoying Thee and Thy free love
I share the bliss of saints above. -
Thine would I be in soul and mind,
And leave sin, death, and hell behind;
Nor can I better fix my trust
Than in the God of whom I boast. -
Thou never canst forsake Thy child
That by Thy grace is reconciled;
Thou art the Shepherd of my soul,
That ever keeps me sound and whole. -
Thou art my Comfort and Renown,
My Treasure, and eternal Crown;
No tongue is able to express
What joy the name of Jesus has. -
He that has faith and charity
Can by experience join with me;
I’d make this bold assertion good,
And dare to seal it with my blood. -
Were there no joy in God for me,
’Twere better I should never be,
For he that has not Christ within
Is dead in trespasses and sin. -
Thou sweetest Bridegroom of my soul,
Thou Jewel choice beyond control,
I Thee I justly more rejoice
Than in the world’s most glitt’ring toys. -
As often as I think on Thee,
My heart for joy doth leap in me;
When I but fix in Thee my hope,
Thy peace and comfort bears me up. -
When in my pain I pray and sing,
My heart is quite another thing;
Thy Spirit witnesses that this
Is but the foretaste of Thy bliss. -
I then, as long as life shall be,
Will bear the cross, and follow Thee;
O Lord, prepare this heart of mine,
Let it to nothing else incline. -
Assist me with Thy mighty grace
With joy to run my Christian race;
Help me to conquer flesh and blood
And make my Christian warfare good. -
Preserve my faith from error free,
That I may live and die in Thee;
Lord Jesus Christ, hear my desire;
Let me be Thine when I expire!
Ach Gott, wie manches Herzeleid
Martin Moller, 1587
Tr. Johann Christian Jacobi, 1722, alt.
Source: Psalmodia Germanica, London, 1722, pp. 76–79
German Text (coming soon)