"Awake, My Soul, to Joyful Lays"
                          by Samuel Medley, 1738-1799
                                  Text From:
                      THE HANDBOOK TO THE LUTHERAN HYMNAL
              (St. Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1942) p.243



	1. Awake, my soul, to joyful lays
	And sing Thy great Redeemer's praise.
	He justly claims a song from me,--
	His loving-kindness, oh, how free!
	
	2. He saw me ruined in the Fall,
	Yet loved me notwithstanding all.
	He saved me from my lost estate,--
	His loving-kindness, oh, how great!
	
	3. When I was Satan's easy prey
	And deep in debt and bondage lay,
	He paid His life for my discharge,--
	His loving-kindness, oh, how large.
	
	4. Through mighty hosts of cruel foes,
	Where earth and hell my way oppose,
	He safely leads my soul along,--
	His loving-kindness, oh, how strong!
	
	5. When trouble, like a gloomy cloud,
	Has gathered thick and thundered loud,
	He near my soul has always stood,--
	His loving-kindness, oh, how near!
	
	6. When earthly friends forsake me quite
	And I have neither skill now might,
	He's sure my Helper to appear,--
	His loving-kindness, oh, near!
	
	7. Too oft I feel my sinful heart
	Prone from my Jesus to depart;
	But through I have Him oft forgot,
	His loving-kindness changes not.
	
	8. When I shall pass death's gloomy vale
	And all my mortal power must fail,
	Oh, may my last, expiring breath
	His loving-kindness sing in death!
	
	9. Then shall I mount and soar away
	To the bright world of endless day
	And sing with rapture and surprise
	His loving-kindness in the skies.

        

        Notes from _The Lutheran Hymnal_
        Hymn #340 from _The Handbook to the Lutheran Hymnal_
        Text: Ps. 36:7
        Author: Samuel Medley, 1782, alt.
        Composer: Nikolaus Herman, 1560
        Tune: "O heilige Dreifaltigkeit"