The Cyber Hymnal ‎#1721

1721. God Calling Yet

1. God calling yet; shall I not hear?
Earth’s pleasures shall I still hold dear?
Shall life’s swift passing years all fly,
And still my soul in slumber lie?

2. God calling yet; shall I not rise?
Can I His loving voice despise,
And basely His kind care repay?
He calls me still—can I delay?

3. God calling yet, and shall He knock,
And I my heart the closer lock?
He still is waiting to receive,
And shall I dare His Spirit grieve?

4. Ah, yield Him all; in Him confide;
Where but with Him doth peace abide?
Break loose, let earthly bonds be riven,
And let the spirit rise to heaven.

5. God calling yet; and shall I give
No heed, but still in bondage live?
I wait, but He does not forsake;
He calls me still—my heart, awake!

6. God calling yet; I cannot stay;
My heart I yield without delay;
Vain world, farewell! from thee I part;
The voice of God hath reached my heart.

Text Information

• First Line: God calling yet; shall I not hear?
• Title: God Calling Yet
• German Title: Gott rufet noch, sollt ich nicht endlich hören
• Author: Gerhard Tersteegen (1735)
• Translator (from German): Sarah B. Findlater
• Meter: LM
• Language: English
• Source: Geistliches Blumen Gärtlein, second edition, 1735; Translation in Hymns from the Land of Luther, second series, 1855
• Notes: This hymn is a re­mark­a­ble so­lil­o­quy of an awak­ened and pe­ni­tent soul. It could have been writ­ten on­ly by one who had him­self through the deep spir­it­u­al ex­per­i­enc­es in­volved in con­vict­ion of sin and con­ver­sion from sin. The au­thor was a some­what ec­cen­tric but deep­ly pi­ous mys­tic…At the age of twen­ty-se­ven Ter­stee­gen wrote, in his own blood, a ded­i­ca­tion of him­self to God, in which he says: "God gra­cious­ly called me out of the world and grant­ed me the de­sire to be­long to him and to be will­ing to fol­low him. I long for an eter­ni­ty, that I may suit­a­bly glor­i­fy him for it." Nutter, pp. 134-5. Alternate tunes: HAMBURG, Low­ell Ma­son, 1824; INGHAM, Low­ell Ma­son, 1792-1872

Tune Information

• Name: BRESLAU
• Meter: LM
• Key: A Major
• Source: As Hymnodus Sacer (Leipzig, Germany: 1625)
• Copyright: Public Domain