1 Upon the cross extended,
see, world, your Lord suspended;
your Savior yields his breath.
The Prince of life from heaven
himself has freely given
to shame and blows and bitter death.
2 Who is it, Lord, that bruised you?
Who has so sore abused you
and caused you all your woe?
We all must make confession
of sin and dire transgression
while you no ways of evil know.
3 I caused your grief and sighing
by evils multiplying
as countless as the sands.
I caused the woes unnumbered
with which your soul is cumbered,
your sorrows raised by wicked hands.
4 Your soul in griefs unbounded,
your head with thorns surrounded,
you died to ransom me.
The cross for me enduring,
the crown for me securing,
you healed my wounds and set me free.
5 Your cross I place before me,
its saving pow'r restore me,
sustain me in the test.
It will, when life is ending,
be guiding and attending
my way to your eternal rest.
Source: Christian Worship: Hymnal #434
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 >
My Starred Hymns
My FlexScores
My Hymnals
My Purchased Files
