4 My soul is sprinkled with the Blood
Thy Son hath shed for us,
And in Thy sight is pure and good,
Adorned and radiant thus.
5 Thou my Deliverer wast of yore;
From sin Thou madest me free:
Now, faithful God, do Thou once more
In death deliver me.
6 Thou livest and lovest without end,
And dost perform Thy word:.
My parting soul I now commend
To Thee, my God and Lord!
Miss Winkworth. 1855.
Tr. Philip Frederic Hiller. 1765.
586 0 Herre Gott, ich ruf zu Dir. L. M. 6 1.
1 0 LORD my God, I cry to Thee!
In my distress Thou helpest me.
To Thee myself I all commend:
O swiftly now Thine angel send
To guide me home, and cheer my heart,
Since Thou dost call me to depart!
20 Jesus Christ, Thou Lamb of God,
Once slain to take away our load!
Now let Thy Cross, Thine agony,
Avail to save and solace me :
Thy Death to open heaven, and there
Bid me the joy of angels share.
3 O Holy Spirit, at the end,
Sweet Comforter, be Thou my Friend!
When death and hell assail me sore,
Leave me,
O leave me nevermore,
But bear me safely through the strife,
As Thou hast promised, into Life!
Miss Winkworth. 1858.
Tr. Nicholas Selnecker.1587.
1 BENEATH our feet and o'er our head
Is equal warning given;
Beneath us lie the countless dead,
Above us is the heaven.
2 Their names are graven on the stone,
Their bones are in the clay;
And ere another day is done
Ourselves may be as they.
3 Death rides on every passing breeze,
He lurks in every flower;
Each season has its own disease,
Its peril ever hour.
4 Our eyes have seen the rosy light
Of youth's soft cheek decay,
And fate descend in sudden night
On manhood's middle day.
5 Our eyes have seen the steps of age
Halt feebly towards the tomb;
And still shall earth our hearts engage,
And dreams of days to come?
6 Turn, mortal, turn! thy danger know;
Where'er thy foot can tread,
The earth rings hollow from below,"
And warns thee of her dead.
7 Turn, Christian, turn! thy soul apply
To truths divinely given;
The bones that underneath thee lie
Shall live for hell or heaven.
Reginald Heber. 1827.
1 THINGS of the earth in the earth let us lay,
Ashes with ashes, the dust with the clay:
But lift up the heart, and the eye, and the love,
Lift up the soul to the regions above!
2 Since He, the Immortal, hath entered the gate, So too shall we mortals, or sooner or late. Stand we on Christ: let us mark Him ascend, Whose is the glory and life without end.
3 There with His own ones, the Giver of good, Blessing them once more, a little while stood: Nothing can part us, nor distance, nor foes, For lo! He is with us, and who can oppose? 4 So, Lord, we commit this our brother to Thee, Whose body is dead, but whose spirit is free: We know that, through grace, when our life here is done,
We live ever in Thee, and forever in one.
5 All glory to Thee, Father, Spirit, and Son,
Who Three art in person, in substance but One,
In Whom we have victory over the grave,
Who lovest Thy people to pardon and save.
John Mason Neale. 1864. a.
From the Greek.
Ach, wie so sanft entschläfest du. C. M.
1 Ar length released from many woes,
How sweetly dost thou sleep!
How calm and peaceful thy repose,
While Christ thy soul doth keep!
2 In earth's wide field thy body now
We sow, which lifeless lies,
In sure and certain hope that thou
More glorious shalt arise.
3 Then rest thee in thy lowly bed,
Nor shall our hearts repine.
Thy toils and woes are finished:
A happy lot is thine.
4 The Bridegroom will not long delay;
The Shepherd soon will come,
And take His cherished lamb away
To His eternal home.
5 Blest, who have Jesus' love esteemed
O'er every earthly thing;
For none of all His flock redeemed
Will Jesus fail to bring.
Frances Elizabeth Cox. 1841. a.
Tr. Gottfried Neumann. 1778.
1 ASLEEP in Jesus! blessed sleep,
From which none ever wakes to weep:
A calm and undisturbed repose,
Unbroken by the last of foes.
2 Asleep in Jesus! O how sweet
To be for such a slumber meet;
With holy confidence to sing
That Death has lost his venomed sting!
3 Asleep in Jesus! peaceful rest,
Whose waking is supremely blest:
No fear, no woe, shall dim that hour
That manifests the Savior's power.
4 Asleep in Jesus! O, for me
May such a blissful refuge be:
Securely shall my ashes lie,
And wait the summons from on high.
5 Asleep in Jesus! time nor space
Affects this precious hiding-place:
On Indian plains or Lapland snows
Believers find the same repose.
6 Asleep in Jesus! far from thee
Thy kindred and their graves may be;
But thine is still a blessed sleep,
From which none ever wakes to weep.
Mrs. Mackay. 1835.
1 WHY do we mourn departing friends,
Or shake at death's alarms?
'Tis but the voice that Jesus sends
To call them to His arms.
2 Are we not tending upward too
As fast as time can move?
Nor should we wish the hours more slow,
To keep us from our love.
3. Why should we tremble to convey
Their bodies to the tomb?
There the dear flesh of Jesus lay,
There hopes unfading bloom.
4 The graves of all His saints He blessed,
And softened every bed:
Where should the dying members rest,
But with their dying Head?
5 Thence He arose, ascending high,
And showed our feet the way;
Up to the Lord our flesh shall fly
At the great rising-day.
6 Then let the last loud trumpet sound,
And bid our kindred rise;
Awake, ye nations under ground;
Ye saints, ascend the skies.
1 Ir death our friends and us divide,
Thou dost not, Lord, our sorrow chide,
Or frown our tears to see;
Restrained from passionate.excess,
Thou bidd'st us mourn in calm distress
For them that rest in Thee.
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