Service Book and Hymnal of the Lutheran Church in America ‎#228

228. The duteous day now closeth

1 The duteous day now closeth,
Each flower and tree reposeth,
Shade creeps o’er wild and wood:
Let us, as night is falling,
On God our Maker calling,
Give thanks to him, the Giver good.

2 Now all the heavenly splendor
Breaks forth in starlight tender
From myriad worlds unknown;
And man, the marvel seeing,
Forgets his selfish being,
For joy of beauty not his own.

3 His care he drowneth yonder,
Lost in the abyss of wonder;
To heaven his soul doth steal:
This life he disesteemeth,
The day it is that dreameth,
That doth from truth his vision seal.

4 Awhile his mortal blindness
May miss God’s loving-kindness,
And grope in faithless strife:
But when life’s day is over
Shall death’s fair night discover
The fields of everlasting life.

Text Information

• First Line: The duteous day now closeth
• Translator: Robert Bridges, 1844 - 1930
• Author: Paul Gerhardt, 1607 - 76
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1958
• Topic: The Church: Worship - Evening
• Copyright: From The Yattendon Hymnal, edited by Robert Bridges, by permission of The Clarendon Press, Oxford.

Tune Information

• Name: INNSBRUCK
• Composer: Heinrich Isaak, c. 1455 - 1517
• Adapter and harmonizer: J. S. Bach, 1685 - 1750
• Meter: 7 7 6, 7 7 8.
• Key: G Major