Evangelical Lutheran hymnal ‎#396

396. Up, my soul, gird thee with pow'r

1 Up, my soul, gird thee with power,
Watch! to prayer betake thee;
Lest the sudden evil hour
Unawares o'ertake thee.
Satan's prey
Soon are they,
Who, with best endeavor,
Watch not, pray not, ever.

2 But first rouse thee, and awake
From secure indiff'rence;
Else will follow in its wake
Woe without deliv'rance.
Take thou heed!
Utter need,
Death in sins might find thee,
Ere thou look behind thee.

3 Wake, arouse! else can the Lord
Not enlighten, ground thee;
Nor thou see the quickening Word
Shine in splendor round thee.
God demands
Eyes and hands
Open for the offers,
He so richly proffers.

4 With thy watching mingle prayer;
Grace but rids from slumber.
God rids thee from slothful care
And the weights that cumber;
Else will still
Mind and will
Lukewarm praises tender,
And cold service render.

5 God will have it that we ask,
And it shall be given;
Who pray alway, alway bask
In the grace of heaven.
Ere they plead
Will He heed,
Strengthen, keep, defend them,
And deliv'rance send them.

6 Cheer thee then, my soul! all must
Work for good, and bless us,
If we but in prayerful trust
To God's Son address us;
And He will
Richly fill,
And His Spirit send us,
Who to Him commend us.

7 Let us watch then, pray, with heed,
God will prove our Hearer;
For the hour of utmost need
Constantly draws nearer.
Saints will cheer,
Sinners fear,
When the trumpet calleth,
Earth in ruins falleth.

Text Information

• First Line: Up, my soul, gird thee with pow'r
• Author: Johann Burchard Freystein (1697)
• Translator: Rev. Emanuel Cronenwett (1880)
• Meter: No. 61
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1908
• Topic: First Sunday of Advent; Ninth Sunday after Trinity; Twentieth Sunday after Trinity; Fifth Sunday after Epiphany; Christian Life and Hope: The Walk of Godliness: Christian Resolve and Holiness
• Notes: From the German text: Mache dich, mein Geist, bereit

Tune Information

• Name: NASSAU (Straf mich nicht in deinem Zorn)
• Composer (attributed to): Johann Rosenmüller
• Meter: No. 61
• Key: D Major
• Source: Dresden, 1694