By Grace I Am an Heir of Heaven

Representative Text

1 By grace I am an heir of heaven:
why doubt this, O my trembling heart?
If what the Scriptures promise clearly
is true and firm in ev'ry part,
this also must be truth divine:
by grace a crown of life is mine.

2 By grace alone shall I inherit
that blissful home beyond the skies.
Works count for naught, the Lord incarnate
has won for me the heav'nly prize.
Salvation by his death he wrought,
his grace alone my pardon bought.

3 By grace! These precious words remember
when sorely by your sins oppressed,
when Satan comes to vex your spirit,
when troubled conscience sighs for rest;
what reason cannot comprehend,
God does to you by grace extend.

4 By grace! Be this in death my comfort;
despite my fears, 'tis well with me.
I know my sin in all its greatness,
but also him who sets me free.
My heart to naught but joy gives place,
since I am saved by grace, by grace.

Source: Trinity Psalter Hymnal #477

Translator: H. Brueckner

Born: March 11, 1866, Grundy County, Iowa (birth name: Herman Heinrich Moritz Brueckner). Died: January 25, 1942, Hebron, Nebraska (funeral held in Beatrice, Nebraska). Buried: St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery, Waverly, Iowa. After ordination in 1888, Brueckner pastored in Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. He later moved to Iowa City, Iowa, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Iowa State University in 1917. In 1926, he joined the faculty of Hebron College in Nebraska. In 1938, Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, conferred an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on him. He retired as professor emeritus from Hebron College in 1941. Sources: Erickson, p. 254 Findagrave, accessed 14 Nov 2016 Hustad, p. 213 Stulken, p.… Go to person page >

Author: Christian L. Scheidt

Christian Ludwig Scheidt, b. 1709, Waldenburg; d. 1761, Hanover, hofrat and librarian at Hanover Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: By grace I am an heir of heaven
Title: By Grace I Am an Heir of Heaven
German Title: Aus Gnaden soll ich selig werden
Translator: H. Brueckner
Author: Christian L. Scheidt (1742, cento)
Meter: 9.8.9.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

NEUMARK

Published in 1657 (see above) WER NUR DEN LIEBEN GOTT is also known as NEUMARK. Johann S. Bach (PHH 7) used the tune in its isorhythmic shape (all equal rhythms) in his cantatas 21, 27, 84, 88, 93, 166, 179, and 197. Many Lutheran composers have also written organ preludes on this tune. WER NUR DEN…

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WINCHESTER NEW

The original version of WINCHESTER NEW appeared in Musikalisches Handbuch der geistlichen Melodien, published in Hamburg, Germany, in 1690 by Georg Wittwe. It was set to the text “Wer nur den lieben Gott” (see 446). An expanded version of the tune was a setting for "Dir, dir Jehova" (see 203) in…

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O DASS ICH TAUSEND ZUNGEN HÄTTE (König)

Johann Balthaser König (b. Waltershausen, near Gotha, Germany, 1691; d. Frankfurt, Germany, 1758) composed this tune, which later became associated with Johann Mentzer's hymn "O dass ich tausend Zungen hätte" (Oh, That I Had a Thousand Voices). The harmonization is from the Wurttembergische Choral…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 3 of 3)

Ambassador Hymnal #409

TextPage Scan

Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) #695

TextPage Scan

Trinity Psalter Hymnal #477

Include 6 pre-1979 instances
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