152 Tenth Sunday after Trinity.
As the hart panteth after the water brooks, even so panteth my soul after Thee, O God.
Psalm 47:1
8,8,8,8
Nach dir, o Gott verlanget mich
Anton Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick. 1667.
trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1855
O God, I long Thy Light to see, My God, I hourly think on Thee; Oh draw me up, nor hide Thy face, But help me from Thy holy place. | As toward her sun the sunflower turns, Towards Thee, my Sun my spirit yearns; Oh would that free from sin I might Thus follow evermore Thy Light! | But sin hath so within me wrought, Such deadly sickness on me brought, My languid soul sits drooping here And cannot reach the heavenly sphere. | 153 Ah how shall I my freedom win? How break this heavy yoke of sin? My fainting spirit thirsts for Thee, Come, Lord, to help and set me free. | My heart is set to do Thy will, But all my deeds are faulty still; My best attempts are nothing worth, But soiled with cleaving taint of earth. | Remember that I am Thy child, Forgive whate'er my soul defiled, Blot out my sins, that I may rise Freely to Thee beyond the skies. | Help me to love the world no more, Be Master of my house and store, The shield of faith around me throw, And break the arrows of my foe. | Fain would my heart henceforward be Fixed, O my God, alone on Thee, That heart and soul by Thee possest, May find in Thee their perfect rest. | Begone, ye pleasures false and vain, Untasted, undesired remain! In heaven alone those joys abound, Where all my true delight is found. | Oh take away whate'er has stood Between me and the Highest Good; I ask no better boon than this, To find in God my only bliss. | |