The 121st Psalm of David

Representative Text

Lord! to Thee alone I raise
Evermore mine eager eyes,
Upturn’d is my constant gaze
To the hills that pierce the skies:
To the hills whence flow to me
Help and saving health from Thee!

All my succour comes to me
From my great Creator’s hand,
Who hath deck’d so beauteously
Earth and sky, air, sea, and land,
And with ev’ry good supplied,
That our needs be satisfied.

Lest thy feet, my soul! should stray
From the narrow path of right,
He is with thee in the way,
And preserves thee day and night.
Trust Him! and the hosts of hell
Never more shall work thee ill.

Sleepless vigils doth He keep
When thou liest down to rest;
When thou’rt sunk in slumbers deep,
To thy side at His behest
Angel hosts then wing their flight,
Thee to guard through all the night.

All thou hast and all thou art
Is encircled by His love;
Ev’ry grief that wrings thy heart
Doth He graciously remove.
Soul and body shieldeth He,
When dark tempests threaten thee.

When the noonday’s burning sun
All thy body’s strength doth blight,
When the midnight stars and moon
Dazzle with their brilliant light,
Then His hand of mighty pow’r,
Shades thee in the trying hour.

May He still protection yield,
Faithful Shepherd be, and near
Still remain thy rock and shield,
When thy heart’s oppress’d with fear.
When of need thou feel’st the smart,
May He press thee to His heart.

Dost thou sit or rise again,
Dost thou speak or dost thou hear,
Still at home dost thou remain,
Art abroad when none is near,
Dost thou wander in or out?
He will compass thee about.

Paul Gerhardt’s Spiritual Songs, 1867

All representative texts • Compare texts ^ top

Author: Paul Gerhardt

Paul Gerhardt (b. Gräfenheinichen, Saxony, Germany, 1607; d. Lubben, Germany, 1676), famous author of Lutheran evangelical hymns, studied theology and hymnody at the University of Wittenberg and then was a tutor in Berlin, where he became friends with Johann Crüger. He served the Lutheran parish of Mittenwalde near Berlin (1651-1657) and the great St. Nicholas' Church in Berlin (1657-1666). Friederich William, the Calvinist elector, had issued an edict that forbade the various Protestant groups to fight each other. Although Gerhardt did not want strife between the churches, he refused to comply with the edict because he thought it opposed the Lutheran "Formula of Concord," which condemned some Calvinist doctrines. Consequently, he was r… Go to person page >

Translator: J. Kelly

Kelly, John, was born at Newcastle-on-Tyne, educated at Glasgow University, studied theology at Bonn, New College, Edinburgh, and the Theological College of the English Presbyterian Church (to which body he belongs) in London. He has ministered to congregations at Hebburn-on-Tyne and Streatham, and was Tract Editor of the Religious Tract Society. His translations of Paul Gerhardt's Spiritual Songs were published in 1867. Every piece is given in full, and rendered in the metre of the originals. His Hymns of the Present Century from the German were published in 1886 by the Religious Tract Society. In these translations the metres of the originals have not always been followed, whilst some of the hymns have been abridged and others condens… Go to person page >

^ top

Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Lord! to Thee alone I raise
Title:	The 121st Psalm of David
German Title:	Ich erhebe, Herr, zu dir
Author:	Paul Gerhardt
Translator:	J. Kelly (1867)
Meter:	6.6.6.6.6.6
Language:	English
Publication Date:	1867
Copyright:	This text is in the public domain in the United States because it was published before 1929.