My soul, exalt the Lord thy God

Representative Text

I. My Soul! exalt the Lord thy God,
And all that's in me bless his Name,
Make known his wondrous Works abroad,
And oh, my Heart, retain the same;
He pardons all thy Trespasses;
Thy Frailties he repairs;
Preserves thy Life from great distress,
With mercy crowns thy Years;
He satisfies thy Mouth with Good;
Renews thine Age with Strength;
The Lord hath Judgments for the proud,
And saves th' Oppres'd at Length.

II. He has reveal'd his wondrous Ways;
By MOSES was his Justice known;
He sent the World his Truth and Grace,
By th' Incarnation of his Son.
His Anger doth abate betimes;
And when his Rod is felt,
His Strokes are fewer than our Crimes,
And lighter than our Guilt;
His Grace shall be for ever blest
With those that love his Name;
Far as the East is from the West,
He casts our Sin and Shame.

III. As Fathers, mov'd with Tenderness,
Correct their growing Children's Faults;
So chastens God, yet loves no less
Those who revere him in their Thoughts;
He knows our short and feeble Breath;
He knows we are but dust;
His rising Wrath is big with Death;
He summons, die we must:
Our transient Days pass quick away;
They're like the tender flower,
One blasting Gale, one scorching Ray
Destroys it in an Hour.

IV. But thy Compassions, Lord, endure,
Now and to all Eternity;
And All shall find thy Promise sure,
That keep thy Statutes faithfully.
The Lord, our great and glorious King,
Has fix'd his Throne on high'
Ye Angels, to his Glory sing,
And Men beneath the Sky.
Join Hearts, and Lips with one Accord,
And praise his holy Name,
My Soul, according to his Word,
Do thou repeat the same.

V. To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost
Be Glory, Might and Majesty;
He is the God, of whom we boast;
On whose kind Promise we rely;
Let our united Zeal be shewn
His glorious Fame to raise;
For he's the God, whose Name alone
Deserves our endless Praise.
Thus we with humble Confidence
Sum up our best Desire,
And saying AMEN, in this Sense,
Our Faith shall ne'er expire.

Source: Psalmodia Germanica: or, The German Psalmody: translated from the high Dutch together with their proper tunes and thorough bass (2nd ed., corr. and enl.) #145

Author: Johann Poliander

Poliander, Johann was the pen-name of Johann Graumann who was b. July 5, 1487, at Neustadt in the Bavarian Palatinate. He studied at Leipzig (M.A. 1516, B.D. 1520), and was, in 1520, appointed rector of the St. Thomas School at Leipzig. He attended the Disputation in 1519 between Dr. Eck, Luther, and Oarlstadt, as the amanuensis of Eck; with the ultimate result that he espoused the cause of the Reformation and left Leipzig in 1522. In 1523 he became Evangelical preacher at Wurzburg, but left on the outbreak of the Peasants' War in 1525, and went to Nürnberg, where, about Lent, he was appointed preacher to the nunnery of St. Clara. He then, at the recommendation of Luther, received from the Margrave Albrecht of Brandenburg an invitation to… Go to person page >

Translator: Johann Christian Jacobi

Jacobi, John Christian, a native of Germany, was born in 1670, and appointed Keeper of the Royal German Chapel, St. James's Palace, London, about 1708. He held that post for 42 years, and died Dec. 14, 1750. He was buried in the Church of St. Paul's, Covent Garden. His publications included :— (1) A Collection of Divine Hymns, Translated from the High Dutch. Together with their Proper Tunes and Thorough Bass. London: Printed and Sold by J. Young, in St. Paul’s Churchyard; . . . 1720. This edition contains 15 hymns. Two years later this collection, with a few changes in the text and much enlarged, was republished as (2) Psalmodia Germanica; or a Specimen of Divine Hymns. Translated from the High Dutch. Together with their Proper Tunes… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: My soul, exalt the Lord thy God
German Title: Nun lob mein' Seel den Herren
Author: Johann Poliander
Translator: Johann Christian Jacobi
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

NUN LOB, MEIN SEEL

Johann (Hans) Kugelmann (b. Augsburg, Germany, c. 1495; d. Konigsberg, Germany, 1542) adapted NUN LOB, MEIN SEEL from the song “Weiss mir ein Blümlein blaue” and first published the tune in his Concentus Novi (1540). A bar form, this German chorale consists of six long lines sharing some simila…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 2 of 2)
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A Hymn and Prayer-Book #173

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Psalmodia Germanica #145

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