My soul, now praise thy Maker!

Representative Text

1 My soul, now praise your Maker!
Let all within me bless His name
Who makes you full partaker
Of mercies more than you dare claim.
Forget Him not whose meekness
Still bears with all your sin,
Who heals your ev'ry weakness,
Renews your life within;
Whose grace and care are endless
And saved you through the past;
Who leaves no suff'rer friendless
But rights the wronged at last.

2 He offers all His treasure
Of justice, truth, and righteousness,
His love beyond all measure,
His yearning pity o'er distress,
Nor treats us as we merit
But sets His anger by.
The poor and contrite spirit
Finds His compassion nigh;
And high as heav'n above us,
As dawn from close of day,
So far, since He has loved us,
He puts our sins away.

3 For as a tender father
Has pity on His children here,
God in His arms will gather
All who are His in childlike fear.
He knows how frail our powers,
Who but from dust are made.
We flourish like the flowers,
And even so we fade;
The wind but through them passes,
And all their bloom is o'er.
We wither like the grasses;
Our place knows us no more.

4 His grace remains forever,
And children's children yet shall prove
That God forsakes them never
Who in true fear shall seek His love.
In heav'n is fixed His dwelling,
His rule is over all;
O hosts with might excelling,
With praise before Him fall.
Praise Him forever reigning,
All you who hear His Word--
Our life and all sustaining.
My soul, O praise the Lord!



Source: Lutheran Service Book #820

Author: Johann Poliander

Poliander, Johann was the pen-name of Johann Graumann who was b. July 5, 1487, at Neustadt in the Bavarian Palatinate. He studied at Leipzig (M.A. 1516, B.D. 1520), and was, in 1520, appointed rector of the St. Thomas School at Leipzig. He attended the Disputation in 1519 between Dr. Eck, Luther, and Oarlstadt, as the amanuensis of Eck; with the ultimate result that he espoused the cause of the Reformation and left Leipzig in 1522. In 1523 he became Evangelical preacher at Wurzburg, but left on the outbreak of the Peasants' War in 1525, and went to Nürnberg, where, about Lent, he was appointed preacher to the nunnery of St. Clara. He then, at the recommendation of Luther, received from the Margrave Albrecht of Brandenburg an invitation to… Go to person page >

Translator: Catherine Winkworth

Catherine Winkworth (b. Holborn, London, England, 1827; d. Monnetier, Savoy, France, 1878) is well known for her English translations of German hymns; her translations were polished and yet remained close to the original. Educated initially by her mother, she lived with relatives in Dresden, Germany, in 1845, where she acquired her knowledge of German and interest in German hymnody. After residing near Manchester until 1862, she moved to Clifton, near Bristol. A pioneer in promoting women's rights, Winkworth put much of her energy into the encouragement of higher education for women. She translated a large number of German hymn texts from hymnals owned by a friend, Baron Bunsen. Though often altered, these translations continue to be used i… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: My soul, now praise [bless] thy Maker!
Title: My soul, now praise thy Maker!
German Title: Nun lob, mein Seel, den Herren
Author: Johann Poliander (1540)
Translator: Catherine Winkworth (1863)
Meter: 7.8.7.8.7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

NUN LOB, MEIN SEEL

Johann (Hans) Kugelmann (b. Augsburg, Germany, c. 1495; d. Konigsberg, Germany, 1542) adapted NUN LOB, MEIN SEEL from the song “Weiss mir ein Blümlein blaue” and first published the tune in his Concentus Novi (1540). A bar form, this German chorale consists of six long lines sharing some simila…

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[My soul, now bless thy maker!] (Lindeman)


Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #4367
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
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Instances

Instances (1 - 5 of 5)
TextPage Scan

Christian Worship (1993) #257

TextPage Scan

Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #456

TextPage Scan

Lutheran Service Book #820

Text

Lutheran Worship #453

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #4367

Include 24 pre-1979 instances
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