For help, O whither shall I flee?

Representative Text

1 For help, O whither shall I flee?
Who now to peace will guide me?
To none, dear Savior, but to Thee,
Can I with hope confide me.
'Tis Thine to give the weary rest,
The mourning soul in Thee is blest,--
Help, Jesus, the afflicted!

2 My sin, O Lord, is now my grief,
Against my will it rages:
Thy grace alone an bring relief,
While sin its warfare wages,
All that I need is known to Thee,
And now a part myself can see,--
Help, Jesus, the sin-burdened!

3 Good Shepherd, bearest Thou the weak?
Sustain me in my weakness!
Thou great Physician of the sick,
Heal Thou my moral sickness!
A prey to death I helpless fall,--
For health and strength to Thee I call,
Save, Jesus, or I perish!

4 To those who trust Thee--"Nothing fear?
I am the life!"--Thou criest;
Seeks not my soul, with strong desire,
The life which Thou suppliest?
Though all my sorrows Thou canst lead,
In death provide for every need--
Help, Jesus, the confiding.

5 I would do good, but still I fail,--
Must I thus always waver?
What grief it gives Thou knowest well.
Who shall my soul deliver,
And set the salve for ever free
From sin and death to live with Thee?--
I thank Thee, God, through Jesus!


Source: The Lutheran Hymnary #499

Author: Joachim Neander

Neander, Joachim, was born at Bremen, in 1650, as the eldest child of the marriage of Johann Joachim Neander and Catharina Knipping, which took place on Sept. 18, 1649, the father being then master of the Third Form in the Paedagogium at Bremen. The family name was originally Neumann (Newman) or Niemann, but the grandfather of the poet had assumed the Greek form of the name, i.e. Neander. After passing through the Paedagogium he entered himself as a student at the Gymnasium illustre (Academic Gymnasium) of Bremen in Oct. 1666. German student life in the 17th century was anything but refined, and Neander seems to have been as riotous and as fond of questionable pleasures as most of his fellows. In July 1670, Theodore Under-Eyck came to Breme… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: For help, O whither shall I flee?
Original Language: German
Author: Joachim Neander
Language: Latin
Copyright: Public Domain

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Hymnal of the Evangelical Church. Word ed. #d165

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The Lutheran Hymnary #499

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