"Gott sei Lob! der Tag ist" (#196)

This is the first hymn in a new sub-section:  "Morgenlied vor der Communion" "Morning Songs before Communion."

German text in the Gesangbuch:

1 Gott sei Lob! der Tag ist kommen,

da ich Jesu werd vertraut,

da ich, aller Schuld entnommen,

werd in Gottes Huld geschaut.

Gott sei Lob, daß mir bereit

ist des Lammes Hochzeit heut,

da mir Gott zum ewgen Leben

will den ganzen Jesum geben.

2 Gott, ich komm bei frühem Morgen

zu dir als dein liebes Kind,

leg in deine Vatersorgen

mich mit Leib und Seel geschwind;

Abba, Vater, sorg für mich,

daß ich ja heut würdiglich

als dein Gast bei dir erscheine

und mit Jesu mich vereine.

3 Christe, du Lamm Gottes, höre,

weil du trägest meine Sünd,

als mein Schatz und Wirth bekehre

deine Braut, dein Schäflein sind;

deiner Güte ich vertrau,

führe mich auf grüner Au,

speise mich, mir stets zu gute,

heut mit deinem Leib und Blute.

4 Heilger Geist, den ich umfasse,

bleibe heut und stets bei mir,

mich mit Beistand nicht verlasse,

sondern hilf, daß selig hier

mir zum Nutze, Gott zum Preis

ich genieß die Himmelsspeis,

daß ich dadurch christlich lebe,

freudig meinen Geist aufgebe.

5 Nun ich lieg dir, Gott, zu Füßen,

Gottes Liebe schmücke mich,

meines Jesu Blutvergießen

mache würdig mich durch sich.

Hilf mir drauf, du Vaterherz,

hilf mir, Jesu Tod und Schmerz,

hilf mir, Tröster, heut auf Erden,

daß ich möge selig werden.

Emilie Juliane, Gräfin Schwarzburg, +1706.

My prose translation:

1 To God be praise! the day is come

When I will trust Jesus,

When I, taken away from all guilt,

Will be seen in God's grace.

To God be praise that for me

The marriage [feast] of the Lamb is prepared to-day,

When for eternal life,

God will give me the whole Jesus.

2 God, in the early morning I come

To You as Your dear child,

Lay myself in Your Fatherly care

With body and soul diminished;

Abba, Father, care for me

So that indeed to-day I worthily

Appear with You as Your guest

And unite myself with Jesus.

3 Christ, You Lamb of God, hear,

Because You carry my sin;

As my treasure and host

Reclaim Your bride, [for we] are Your lambs;

In Your goodness I trust;

Lead me on green pasture;

Feed me, constantly for my good,

With Your body and blood to-day.

4 Holy Spirit, Whom I grasp,

Remain to-day and constantly with me;

Do not leave me without aid,

But rather help so that blessed here,

For my benefit, for the praise of God,

I enjoy the meal of Heaven

So that thereby I live as a Christian

[And] joyfully give up my spirit.

5 Now I lie at Your feet, God;

May God's love adorn me;

May the pouring out of my Jesus' blood

Make me worthy.

Help me because of it, You Heart of the Father;

Help me, Jesus' death and pain;

Help me, Comforter, to-day on earth

So that I may become blessed.

Emilie Juliane, Countess Schwarzburg, +1706.

The call "Abba, Father" in the second verse seems to be drawn from either Romans 8:15 or Galatians 4:6.

The beginning of the third verse seems to be based on John 1:29 ("'Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!'"), and the verse also contains an allusion to Psalm 23:2 ("He makes me lie down in green pastures.").

The line "mich mit Beistand nicht verlasse" in the fourth verse is something like "me with aid do not desert," which is an odd sort of construction.  I translated it as "Do not leave me without aid."

I translated "schmücke" and "mache" in the fifth verse as subjunctives ("May adorn" and "May make"), but I'm not sure this is correct.  They don't have the right forms to be indicatives, though, and if they were imperatives, "mache" would have a second person pronoun referring back to it, not a third person like it does in "durch sich" (which I left out of my translation because it seemed redundant).

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 "Freu dich sehr, o meine S[eele]."  Here's the TLH arrangement: