How shall I meet my Savior?

Representative Text

1 How shall I meet my Savior?
How shall I truly welcome thee?
What manner of behavior
is by thy love required of me?
I wait for thy salvation;
grant me, O Lord, thy Spirit’s light;
and may my preparation
be well accepted in thy sight.

2 While with her sweetest flowers
thy waiting Zion strews thy way,
I’ll raise with all my powers,
Savior, to thee a grateful lay;
to thee, the King of glory,
my heart will tune a song divine
and make thy love’s bright story
through me in living witness shine.

Source: Moravian Book of Worship #269

Translator: Johann Christian Jacobi

Jacobi, John Christian, a native of Germany, was born in 1670, and appointed Keeper of the Royal German Chapel, St. James's Palace, London, about 1708. He held that post for 42 years, and died Dec. 14, 1750. He was buried in the Church of St. Paul's, Covent Garden. His publications included :— (1) A Collection of Divine Hymns, Translated from the High Dutch. Together with their Proper Tunes and Thorough Bass. London: Printed and Sold by J. Young, in St. Paul’s Churchyard; . . . 1720. This edition contains 15 hymns. Two years later this collection, with a few changes in the text and much enlarged, was republished as (2) Psalmodia Germanica; or a Specimen of Divine Hymns. Translated from the High Dutch. Together with their Proper Tunes… Go to person page >

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 >

Text Information

First Line: How shall I meet my Savior?
German Title: Wie soll ich dich empfangen
Author: Paul Gerhardt
Translator: Johann Christian Jacobi
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

LEINBACH


ST. THEODULPH (Teschner)

Now often named ST. THEODULPH because of its association with this text, the tune is also known, especially in organ literature, as VALET WILL ICH DIR GEBEN. It was composed by Melchior Teschner (b. Fraustadt [now Wschowa, Poland], Silesia, 1584; d. Oberpritschen, near Fraustadt, 1635) for "Valet wi…

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Moravian Book of Worship #269

Include 15 pre-1979 instances
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