Sunday, February 12, 2012

Gott des Himmels und der Erden



    God, Who madest earth and heaven,--
    Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
    Who the day and night hast given,
    Sun and moon, and starry host,
    Thou Whose mighty hand sustains
    Earth and all that it contains;

    Praise to Thee my soul shall render,
    Who this night has guarded me,
    My omnipotent Defender,
    Who from ill doth set me free;
    Free from danger, anguish, woe,
    Free from the infernal foe.

    Let the night of my transgression
    With night's darkness pass away;
    Jesus, into Thy possession
    I resign myself to-day.
    In Thy wounds I find relief
    From my greatest sin and grief.

    Let my life and conversation
    Be directed by Thy Word;
    Lord, Thy constant preservation
    To Thy erring child afford.
    Nowhere but alone in Thee
    From all harm can I be free.

    Wholly to Thy blest protection
    I commit my heart and mind;
    Mighty God! to Thy direction
    Wholly may I be resigned.
    Lord, my Shield, my Light divine,
    O accept, and own me Thine.

                                                  Heinrich Albert, 1643.
                                        Tr. John Christian Jacobi, 1720.
                                             Arthur Tozer Russell, 1848.
                                              Catherine Winkworth, 1855.

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