The Cyber Hymnal ‎#16664

16664. O Lord, I Sing With Lips And Heart

1 O Lord! I sing with lips and heart,
Joy of my soul! to Thee;
To earth Thy know­ledge I im­part,
As it is known to me.

2 Thou art the Fount of grace, I know,
And spring aye full and free,
Whence sav­ing health and good­ness flow
Each day so boun­te­ous­ly.

3 What have we here, or what are we,
Of good what can earth give,
That we do not alone from Thee,
Our Fa­ther, aye re­ceive?

4 The tent-like fir­ma­ment who builds,
Who spreads th’ex­panse of blue,
Who sends to fer­ti­lize our fields
Refreshing rain and dew?

5 Who warm­eth us in cold and frost,
Who shields us from the wind,
Who or­ders it that wine and must
We in their sea­son find?

6 Who is it life and health be­stows,
Who keeps us with His hand
In gold­en peace, wards off war’s woes
From our dear na­tive land?

7 The work is Thine, my God! my Lord!
And Thine must ev­er be;
Before our door Thou keep­est guard,
In rest we’re kept by Thee.

8 Thou feed­est us from year to year
And con­stant dost ab­ide;
When dan­ger fills our hearts with fear,
With help art at our side.

9 With pa­tience dost Thou ev­er chide,
Nor long Thine an­ger keep,
But cast­est all our sins aside
Into the ocean deep.

10 Whene’er our bur­dened hearts we raise
To Thee, Thou’rt soon ap­peased;
The help Thou send’st shows forth Thy praise,
And our sad hearts are eased.

11 Thou mark’st how oft Thy peo­ple weep
And what their sor­rows are;
Their tears dost in Thy bot­tle keep,
However small they are.

12 Our deep­est needs dost Thou sup­ply,
Thou giv’st what lasts for aye,
Thou lead’st us to our home on high,
When hence we pass away.

13 Awake, my heart, awake and sing,
And joy­ous be thy mood;
Thy God who mak­eth ev­ery­thing
Is, and ab­ides thy good—

14 Thy trea­sure and in­her­it­ance!
Thy glo­ry and de­light!
Thy sav­ing health and sure de­fense!
He keeps and guides thee right.

15 Why do thy cares both night and day
Grieve thee so bit­ter­ly?
Upon thy God thy bur­den lay,
Who gave thy life to thee.

16 Hath He not all the wea­ry way
From youth till now thee led?
Oft chased mis­for­tune’s clouds away
That ga­thered o’er thy head?

17 In all His rule no ov­er­sight
Can hap­pen, no mis­takes;
Whate’er He does or leaves is right,
A hap­py is­sue takes.

18 Let Him work who doth all things well,
Nor with Him in­ter­fere;
And so thou shalt in glo­ry dwell,
And peace en­joy while here.

Text Information

• First Line: O Lord! I sing with lips and heart
• Title: O Lord, I Sing With Lips And Heart
• German Title: Ich singe dir mit Herz und Mund
• Author: Paul Gerhardt (1653)
• Translator: John Kelly
• Meter: CM
• Language: English
• Source: Tr.: Paul Gerhardt's Spiritual Songs (London: Alexander Strahan, 1867), alt.; Original first line: "O Lord! I sing with mouth and heart"
• Copyright: Public Domain

Tune Information

• Name: ICH SINGE DIR
• Meter: CM
• Key: B♭ Major
• Source: Harmonischer Liederschatz (Frankfurt, 1738)
• Copyright: Public Domain