"Herr Jesu, Licht der Heiden" (#64)

German text in the Gesangbuch:

Herr Jesu, Licht der Heiden,

der Frommen Schatz und Lieb,

wir kommen jetzt mit Freuden

durch deines Geistes Trieb

in diesen deinen Temple

und suchen mit Begier

nach Simeons Exempel

dich, großen Gott, allhier.

Du wirst von uns gefunden,

o Herr, an jedem Ort,

dahin du dich verbunden

durch dein Verheißungswort;

vergönnt noch heutzutage,

daß man dich gleicher Weis

auf Glaubensarmen trage,

wie dort der alte Greis.

Sei unser Glanz und Wonne,

ein helles Licht in Pein,

im Schrecken unsre Sonne,

im Kreuz ein Gnadenschein,

in Zagheit Gluth und Flamme,

in Noth ein Freudenstrahl,

in Krankheit Arzt und Amme,

ein Stern in Todesqual.

Herr, laß uns auch gelingen,

daß letzt, wie Simeon,

ein jeder Christ kann singen

den schönen Schwanenton:

Wir werden nun in Frieden

mein Augen zugedrückt,

nachdem ich schon hienieden

den Heiland hab erblickt.

Ja, ja, ich hab im Glauben,

mein Jesu, dich geschaut;

kein Feind kann dich mir rauben,

wie heftig er auch draut.

Ich wohn in deinem herzen,

und in dem meinen du,

uns scheiden keine Schmerzen,

kein Angst, kein Tod dazu.

Hier blickst du zwar zuweilen

so scheel und schwül mich an,

daß oft für Angst und Heulen

ich dich kaum kennen kann;

dort aber wirds geschehen,

daß ich von Angesicht

zu Angesicht soll sehen

dein immer klares Licht.

Joh. Franck, 1674.

My prose translation:

Lord Jesus, light of the nations

Treasure and love of the devout,

We come now with joy

Through the impulse of Your Spirit

Into this, Your temple

And seek with desire,

After Simeon's example,

You, great God, here.

You will be found by us,

O Lord, in every place

Where You have bound Yourself

Through Your word of promise;

Grant still in these days

That in the same way

One carries You in the poorness of faith

As the old man there.

May You be our splendor and delight,

A bright light in torment,

In horror, our sun,

In the cross, a glow of mercy,

In timidity, fervor and flame,

In misery, a beam of joy,

In sickness, physician and nurse,

A star in the agony of death.

Lord, let us also succeed

That at the last, like Simeon,

Every one can sing [to?] Christ

The beautiful swansong:

We will now [go] in peace

My eyes shut,

After here below I have already

Seen the Savior.

Yes, yes, I have in faith

Shown You, my Jesus;

No enemy can take You away from me,

Even as fiercely as he threatens.

I live in Your heart

And You in mine,

No pains separate us,

No fear, no death.

Here, in fact, at times You look

At me so askance and oppressively

That often for fear and weeping

I can barely recognize You;

There, however, it will happen

That face to face

I should see

Your ever clear light.

Joh. Franck, 1674.

I couldn't figure out a way to include this in my translation, but the description "Licht der Heiden, der Frommen Schatz und Lieb" has a chiastic structure.

I'm not too confident in my translation of the last few lines of the second verse and the first few lines of the sixth.

The last two lines of the fifth verse ("uns scheiden keine Schmerzen, / kein Angst, kein Tod dazu" "No pains separate us, / No fear, no death") seem to be an echo of Romans 8:38-39:  "For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord."

The description "face to face" near the end of the sixth verse may come from the first part of 1 Corinthians 13:12:  "For now we see in a mirror dimly, but then face to face.."

As far as I can tell, this hymn isn't present in The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship, or The Lutheran Service Book.  According to the Gesangbuch, it's sung to the tune "Ich dank dir, lieber Herre."  Here's the TLH arrangement:

And here's the arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:

"Gott Lob, mein Jesus" (#63)

German text in the Gesangbuch:

Gott Lob, mein Jesus macht mich rein

von allen meinen Sünden;

was er büßt, muß bezahlet sein,

nun kann mich nicht mehr binden

der Sünden Strick, des Teufels Macht;

drum mein Glaub Höll und Tod verlacht,

weil Jesus ist mein Leben.

Was traur ich denn?  Er lebt ja noch,

der das Gesetz erfüllet,

der durch den Tod und Kreuzesjoch

des Vaters Zorn gestillet,

was er hat, das ist alles mein;

wie könnt doch größrer Reichthum sein,

als den mir Jesus schenket?

Weil Jesus mich von Sünden rein

durch sein Verdienst will machen,

daß ich, los aller Qual und Pein,

nicht fürcht des Todes Rachen,

so tröst mich seine Heiligkeit,

sein Unschuld, Heil und Seligkeit

ist mein Schatz und mein Leben.

So kann ich auch mit Fried und Freud,

wie Simeon, mein Leben

beschließen, frei von allem Leid,

mich meinem Gott ergeben;

so bald ich thu mein Augen zu,

so wird mein Tod mein Schlaf und Ruh,

seh ich des Himmels Freude.

Wie werd ich denn so fröhlich sein,

wenn ich die Welt verlasse,

wenn mich des Himmels Geisterlein

geführt zur Lebensstraße,

wenn ich erblickt die Ewigkeit,

wenn ich erlangt die Seligkeit,

die mir mein Gott bereitet.

Hilf, Gott, daß ist stets sei bereit,

laß mich nichts von dir wenden,

bring mich zu deiner Herrlichkeit,

hilf seliglich vollenden;

komm bald, hilf mir aus aller Noth,

hilf mir, Herr, durch dein Blut und Tod,

ja komm, Herr Jesu, Amen.

Dr. Johann Olearius, 1671.

My prose translation:

Praise [be] to God, my Jesus makes me clean

From all of my sins;

What He atones for must be paid;

Now the rope of sins, the power of the devil

Can no longer bind me;

Therefore my faith laughs at hell and death

Because Jesus is my life.

For what do I grieve then?  He yet lives

Who fulfilled the law,

Who through death and the yoke of the cross

Stilled the wrath of the Father;

What He has, that is all mine;

How could there be yet greater wealth

Than what Jesus has freely given me?

Because Jesus wants to make me pure

From sins through His service

So that I, loose of all anguish and torment,

Do not fear the jaw of death,

So His holiness comforts me;

His innocence, salvation, and eternal life

Are my treasure and my life.

So can I also with peace and joy,

Like Simeon,

Close out my life free from all sorrow

[And] devote myself to my God;

As soon as I close my eyes

M death becomes my sleep and rest;

I see the joy of Heaven.

How will I be so cheerful then

When I leave the world,

When the spirits of Heaven

Have led me to the road of life,

When I behold eternity,

When I reach the everlasting life

That my God prepares for me.

Help, God, that I may constantly be ready;

Let nothing turn me from you;

Bring me to Your splendor;

Help complete blessedly;

Come soon; help me out of all distress;

Help me, Lord, through Your blood and death;

Yes, come, Lord Jesus. Amen.

Dr. Johann Olearius, 1671.

I translated "schenket" in the second verse as "has freely given."  More prosaically, it's just "has given," but schenken has a connotation of giving as a present, and I felt that adding "freely" gave at least a hint of this.

In order to avoid a connotation that seemed sort of suicidal, I translated "mein Leben beschließen" in the fourth verse as "close out my life" rather than "end my life."

The last few lines seem to be patterned on part of Revelation 22:20:  "Amen, ja, komm, Herr Jesus!"

As far as I can tell, this hymn isn't present in The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship, or The Lutheran Service Book.  According to the Gesangbuch, the text is sung to the tune "Nun freut euch, lieben Chr[isten]."  Here's the arrangement from TLH:

And here's the arrangement from Telemann's Fast allgemeines Evangelisch-Musicalisches Lieder-Buch:

 

"Dich bitt ich, trautes Jesul." (#62)

I've neglected to note the divisions of sections.  This hymn is the first in the section labelled "Lieder am Fest der Reinigung Maria" (Am 2 Februar.)."  "Songs for the Feast of the Purification of Mary (On 2 February)"

German text in the Gesangbuch:

Dich bitt ich, trautes Jesulein,

komm zu mir in das Herze mein,

daß ich an dir hab Lust und Freud,

wie Simeon im Tempel heut.

Denn du mein Heil und Leben bist,

so mir von Gott gegeben ist;

reinge mein herz, läutre mein Muth,

erhalt mich auf dein Wegen gut.

Zeig mir die Bahn mit deinem Licht,

daß ich ja fehl des Himmels nicht;

wend ab von mir all Straf und Pein,

und laß mich gar dein eigen sein.

Dein Antlitz sei auf mich gericht,

im Lebn und Tod verlaß mich nicht,

so will ich gern aus dieser Welt

zu dir wandern, wenn dirs gefällt.

Barth. Helder, +1635.

My prose translation:

I ask You, sweet Jesus,

Come to me in my heart

So that in You I have desire and joy,

Like Simeon in the temple to-day.

For You are my salvation and life

That is given to me by God;

Cleanse my heart; purify my courage;

Keep me on your good path.

Show me the way with Your light

So that I indeed do not lack Heaven;

Turn away from me all pain and torment

And let me be completely Your own.

Turn Your face towards me;

Leave me not in life and death

Thus do I want out of this world

To walk to You, when it pleases You.

Barth. Helder, +1635.

The line "like Simeon in the temple to-day" in the first verse refers to Luke 2.

I'm not completely sure about this, but I think the line "erhalt mich auf dein Wegen gut" may contain a grammatical ambiguity:  "gut" could be either a post-positive adjective modifying "Wegen" (and shorn of its inflected ending in order to rhyme with "Muth" at the end of the previous line) or an adverb modifying the verb "erhalt."  In English, the meaning would be either "keep me on Your good path" or "keep me well on Your path."

As far as I can tell, this hymn isn't present in The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship, or The Lutheran Service Book.  According to the Gesangbuch, the text is sung to the tune "Herr Jesu Christ, meins."  Here's the arrangement from TLH:

"Wir danken dir, Herr, insgemein" (#61)

German text in the Gesangbuch:

Wir danken dir, Herr, insgemein

für deines lieben Wortes Schein,

damit du uns hast angeblickt

und unser matthes Herz erquickt.

Wir saßen in des Todes Thal

sehr tief gefangen allzumal.

Hab Dank, du liebstes Jesulein,

daß wir durch dich erlöset sein.

Hilf, daß dein Licht uns leuchten mag

bis an den lieben jüngsten Tag,

und wir auch wandeln jederzeit

den rechten Weg zur Seligkeit.

Du wahrer Mensch und Gottes Sohn,

du König aller Ehren schon,

niemand von uns verdienet hat

solch eine Lieb und große Gnad.

Dein guter Geist uns immer führ,

daß wir von Herzen dienen dir.

Du weißt, o großer Menschenfreund,

wie wir so unvermögend seind.

Nimm an zum Opfer deiner Ehr

die Herzensseufzer, lieber Herr,

damit wir armen Heiden dich

mit Andacht rühmen stetiglich.

Petrus Hagius, +1620.

My prose translation:

We thank You Lord, on the whole

For the appearance of Your dear Word

With it You have lookt at us

And revived our dull hearts.

We sat in the valley of death

Altogether imprisoned very deeply.

[We] have gratitude, You dearest Jesus

That we are released by You.

Help that Your light may enlighten us

Until the dear Judgement Day

And also [that] we walk always

The right way to salvation.

You true man and Son of God,

You King of all honor already,

No one of us has deserved

Such love and great mercy.

Your good Spirit ever leads us

That we serve You from the heart.

You know, O great Friend of man

How we are so incapable.

Accept as an offering to Your honor

The sighs of the heart, dear Lord,

With which we poor Gentiles

Constantly praise You with devotion.

Petrus Hagius, +1620.

"In des Todes Thal" ("in the valley of death") in the second verse may be a reference to Psalm 23:4 ("Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil..."), but when I lookt in my German Psalter, I discovered that the phrase is a bit different there:  "Und ob ich schon wanderte im finstern Tal, fürchte ich kein Unglück...."

"Hab Dank" in the second verse seems to be a second person singular imperative, but this doesn't seem to make much sense in the context.  In my translation, I rendered it as a first person plural indicative.

As far as I can tell, this hymn isn't in The Lutheran Hymnal, Lutheran Worship, or The Lutheran Service Book.  According to the Gesangbuch, the text is sung to the tune "Vom Himmel hoch da k."  Here's the arrangement from TLH: