407. If God Himself Be for Me

1 If God himself be for me,
I may a host defy;
For when I pray, before me
My foes, confounded, fly.
If Christ, my head and master,
Befriend me from above,
What foe or what disaster
Can drive me from his love?

2 I build on this foundation,
That Jesus and his blood
Alone are my salvation,
My true, eternal good.
Without him all that pleases
Will vain and empty prove.
The gifts I have from Jesus
Alone are worth my love.

3 Christ Jesus is my splendor,
My sun, my light, alone;
Were he not my defender
Before God’s awesome throne,
I never should find favor
And mercy in his sight
But be destroyed forever
As darkness by the light.

4 Though earth, Lord, break asunder,
You are my Savior true;
No fire or sword or thunder
Shall sever me from you;
No danger, thirst, or hunger,
No pain or poverty,
No mighty princes' anger
Shall ever vanquish me.

5 No angel and no gladness,
No high place, pomp, or show,
No love, no hate, no badness,
No sadness, pain, or woe,
No scheming, no contrivance,
No subtle thing or great
Shall draw me from your guidance
Nor from you separate.

6 For joy my heart is ringing;
All sorrow disappears;
And full of mirth and singing,
It wipes away all tears.
The sun that cheers my spirit
Is Jesus Christ, my king;
The heav'n I shall inherit
Makes me rejoice and sing.

Text Information
First Line: If God himself be for me
Title: If God Himself Be for Me
Author: Paul Gerhardt, 1607-76
Translator: Richard Massie, 1800-87 (adapt., alt.)
Meter: 76 76 D
Language: English
Publication Date: 1982
Topic: Comfort and Rest; Confirmation; Justification (3 more...)
Tune Information
Name: IST GOTT FÜR MICH
Meter: 76 76 D
Key: C Major
Source: David Spaiser, Vier und zwantzig Geystliche Lieder, Augsburg, 1609
Copyright: Arrangement: Copyright 1953 Württembergisches Choralbuch.



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