The Cyber Hymnal ‎#2777

2777. If I Gained the World

1. If I gained the world, but lost the Savior,
Were my life worth living for a day?
Could my yearning heart find rest and comfort
In the things that soon must pass away?
If I gained the world, but lost the Savior,
Would my gain be worth the lifelong strife?
Are all earthly pleasures worth comparing
For a moment with a Christ-filled life?

2. Had I wealth and love in fullest measure,
And a name revered both far and near,
Yet no hope beyond, no harbor waiting,
Where my storm-tossed vessel I could steer;
If I gained the world, but lost the Savior,
Who endured the cross and died for me,
Could then all the world afford a refuge,
Whither, in my anguish, I might flee?

3. O what emptiness!—without the Savior
’Mid the sins and sorrows here below!
And eternity, how dark without Him!
Only night and tears and endless woe!
What, though I might live without the Savior,
When I come to die, how would it be?
O to face the valley’s gloom without Him!
And without Him all eternity!

4. O the joy of having all in Jesus!
What a balm the broken heart to heal!
Ne’er a sin so great, but He’ll forgive it,
Nor a sorrow that He does not feel!
If I have but Jesus, only Jesus,
Nothing else in all the world beside—
O then everything is mine in Jesus;
For my needs and more He will provide.

Text Information

• First Line: If I gained the world, but lost the Savior
• Title: If I Gained the World
• Swedish Title: Om jag ägde allt, men icke Jesus
• Author: Anna Ölander (1904)
• Language: English
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: Composite translation to English. Alternate tune: BLOTT EN TAG, Oskar Ahnfelt, 1872

Tune Information

• Name: ÖLANDER
• Composer: Anonymous
• Incipit: 55653 51217 55654
• Key: E♭ Major
• Source: Swedish melody
• Copyright: Public Domain