Lord Jesu, fountain of my life

Representative Text

I. Lord Jesu, Fountain of my Life,
Sole comfort in this Stage of Strive,
I'm trav'lling by this worldly Inn,
Tir'd with the Load of Self and Sin.

II. The Journey's hard; the Path is streight,
Which leads to blessed SION"S Gate;
The Land I come form, and had lost,
But am regaining at thy Cost.

III. My Heart oft trembles by the Way.
The Flesh is frail, and runs astray:
The longing spirit cries in me,
Lord, haste and bring me home to Thee.

IV. Support me by thy bitter Death,
When I'm to yield my dying Breath;
Thy Blood refresh my Soul within;
Thy Bonds break all the Chains of Sin.

V. The Blows and Stripes that fell on thee
Heal up the Wounds of Sin in me.
Thy great Reproach, thy shameful Crown
Rejoice my Heart before thy Throne.

VI. Thy Thirst and nauseous Draught of Gall
Refresh my soul in ev'ry Thrall;
Thine Agony, thy dying Breath,
Redeem me from eternal Death.

VII. Thy Wounds be to my Soul, while here,
A Refuge sure, in ev'ry Fear;
In them I'll seek a sheltring Place,
When Satan hath my Soul in Chace.

VIII. Unto my Heart, when Speech I want,
The Utt'rance of thy Spirit grant:
And grant, my Soul to Heav'n may rise,
When Death in Darkness seals my Eyes.

IX. Thy dying Breathings be my Light,
When Death brings on its sable Night:
Grant me a calm and decent End;
And save me when my Head I bend.

X. Thy Cross shall be my Staff in Life;
Thy Grave, my Place of Rest from Strife:
Thy Napkin and thy winding Sheet
Shall bind my head, Breast, Hands and Feet.

XI. The Prints thy sacred Limbs receiv'd
Assure my Heart, that I am sav'd.
Through th' Op'ning of thy Side convey
My Soul to thine eternal Day.

XII. Thy Farewell-Words I'll make my own;
Thy Death did for my Sins attone.
Ope' wide the Gates of Heav'nly Grace,
When I conclude my Christian-Race.

XIII. When I revive, at thy Command,
O place me, Lord, at thy right Hand,
Beyond the Fate which dooms thy Foes
To languish in eternal Woes.

XIV. Then, Lord, thine Image quite renew
Within my Soul and Body too;
And make it radiant as thy own,
More radiant than the brightest Sun.

X. O, what amazing Love and Joy
Shall mine and Angels' Tongues employ!
How shall we sing, with all thy Race,
The blest Enjoyment of thy Face.

Source: Psalmodia Germanica: or, The German Psalmody: translated from the high Dutch together with their proper tunes and thorough bass (2nd ed., corr. and enl.) #195

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Translator: Johann Christian Jacobi

Jacobi, John Christian, a native of Germany, was born in 1670, and appointed Keeper of the Royal German Chapel, St. James's Palace, London, about 1708. He held that post for 42 years, and died Dec. 14, 1750. He was buried in the Church of St. Paul's, Covent Garden. His publications included :— (1) A Collection of Divine Hymns, Translated from the High Dutch. Together with their Proper Tunes and Thorough Bass. London: Printed and Sold by J. Young, in St. Paul’s Churchyard; . . . 1720. This edition contains 15 hymns. Two years later this collection, with a few changes in the text and much enlarged, was republished as (2) Psalmodia Germanica; or a Specimen of Divine Hymns. Translated from the High Dutch. Together with their Proper Tunes… Go to person page >

Author: Martin Behm

Behm, Martin, son of Hans Behm [Bohme, Boehm, Behemb, Behem, Boheim, Bohemus or Bohemius], town-overseer of Lauban in Silesia, was born at Lauban, Sept. 16, 1557. During a protracted famine, 1574, Dr. Paul Fabricius, royal physician at Vienna, a distant kinsman, took him to Vienna, where he acted as a private tutor for two years, and then went to Strassburg, where, from Johann Sturm, Rector of the newly founded University, he received much kindness. Returning home at his mother's request after his father's death, May, 1580, he was, at Easter, 1581, appointed assistant in the Town School, and on Sept. 20, ordained diaconus of the Holy Trinity Church. After his senior had been promoted to Breslau the Town Council kept the post nominally vacan… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Lord Jesu, fountain of my life
German Title:	O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht
Author:	Martin Behm
Translator:	Johann Christian Jacobi
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

O Jesu Christ, meins Lebens Licht. [For the Dying.] His finest hymn. First published in a collection entitled Christliche Gebet, 1610, and then in his Zehen Sterbegebet, appended to his Centuria secunda, 1611 (see above), in 14 stanzas of 4 lines, entitled "Prayer fora happy journey home, founded upon the sufferings of Christ." Thence in Wackernagel, v. p. 235, Noldeke, 1857, p. 79, and the Unverfalschter Liedersegen, 1851, No. 835. The translation in common use are:—

Lord Jesus Christ, my soul's desire. A good and full translation by Dr. John Ker in the Juv. Miss. Mag. of the United Presbyterian Church, May, 1858, p. 25. Stanzas i., iii, v., vii. form No. 49 in the Ibrox Hymnal, 1871.

--Excerpt from John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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