As this poem makes us understand what many men must have felt when the Gospel was once more made accessible to them in their own language, and without 134 the intervention of "men's devices," so the next little song expresses that trust in Christ as the only Mediator and channel of salvation, which had been long obscured by teachings about the Virgin and the saints.
THE MEDIATOR.
8,7,8,7,4,4,10,4,4,10
Christe, wahrer Sohn Gottes frohn
Hans Sachs
trans. by Catherine Winkworth, 1869
| O Christ, true Son of God most high, Thy name we praise for ever; Whoe'er to Thee for help doth cry Shall find Thee fail him never; 'Tis Thou wilt plead, Thou intercede With God, for us who need Thy prayers so sore: Thy bitter strife Hath wrought us life, And Thine be thanks and praise for evermore! | | To Thee the Father giveth now All power in earth and heaven; Sin, Satan, Death to Thee must bow, All fetters Thou hast riven, Bade fear to cease, And made our peace, That now to God we dare our hearts outpour: Thy bitter strife Hath wrought us life, And Thine be thanks and praise for evermore! | | Fulness of grace is in Thy Word; The Life, the Truth, the Way To life eternal art Thou, Lord; To Thee alone we pray, Who didst appear A servant here To bear the sin that crushed the world before: Thy bitter strife Hath wrought us life, And Thine be thanks and praise for evermore! | |