The Cyber Hymnal ‎#16667

16667. A Pilgrim And A Stranger

1 A pil­grim and a strang­er,
I jour­ney here be­low;
Far dist­ant is my coun­try,
The home to which I go.
Here I must toil and tra­vail,
Oft weary and oppressed,
But there my God shall lead me
To ev­er­last­ing rest.

2 I’ve met with storms and dan­ger
E’en from my ear­ly years,
With ene­mies and con­flicts,
With fight­ings and with fears.
There’s no­thing here that tempts me
To wish a long­er stay,
So I must hast­en for­ward,
No halt­ing or de­lay.

3 It is a wellworn path­way;
A host has gone be­fore,
The ho­ly saints and pro­phets,
The pa­tri­archs of yore.
They trod the toilsome jour­ney
In pa­tience and in faith;
And them I fain would fol­low,
Like them in life and death.

4 Who would share Ab­r’am’s bless­ing
Must Ab­r’am’s path pur­sue,
A stran­ger and a pil­grim,
Like him, must jour­ney thro’.
The foes must be en­coun­tered,
The dan­gers must be passed;
A faith­ful sol­dier on­ly
Receives the crown at last.

5 So I must hast­en for­ward
Thank God, the end will come!
This land of pass­ing sha­dows
Is not my des­tined home.
That ev­er­more ab­id­eth,
The ev­er­last­ing ci­ty,
Jerusalem ab­ove,
This ev­er­more ab­id­eth,
The home of light and love.

6 There still my thoughts are dwell­ing,
’Tis there I long to be;
Come, Lord, and call Thy serv­ant
To bless­ed­ness with Thee.
Come, bid my toils be end­ed,
Let all my wan­d’rings cease;
Call from the way­side lodg­ing
To Thy sweet home of peace.

7 There I shall dwell for­ev­er,
No more a part­ing guest,
With all Thy bloodbought child­ren
In ev­er­last­ing rest,
The pil­grim toils for­got­ten,
The pil­grim con­flicts o’er,
All earth­ly griefs be­hind me,
Eternal joys be­fore.

Text Information

• First Line: A pil­grim and a strang­er
• Title: A Pilgrim And A Stranger
• German Title: Ist bin ein Gast auf Erden
• Author: Paul Gerhardt
• Translator: Jane L. Borthwick (1858, alt.)
• Meter: 76.76 D
• Language: English
• Source: Johann Ebeling's Geistliche Andachten, Ander Dutzet (Berlin, 1666)
• Copyright: Public Domain

Tune Information

• Name: HERZLICH TUT MICH
• Composer: Hans Leo Hassler (1601)
• Meter: 76.76 D
• Key: a minor
• Copyright: Public Domain