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And may the promise of Advent be yours this day and always.

O would, my God, that I could praise Thee

Representative Text

1 O would, my God, that I could praise Thee
With thousand tongues by day and night!
How many a song my lips should raise Thee,
Who order'st all things here aright!
My thankful heart would ever be
Telling what God hath done for me.

2 O all ye powers that He implanted,
Arise, keep silence thus no more;
Put forth the strength that He hath granted,
Your noblest work is to adore;
O soul and body, make ye meet
With heartfelt praise your Lord to greet.

3 O Father, deign Thou, I beseech Thee,
To listen to my earthly lays;
A nobler strain in heaven shall reach Thee,
When I with angels hymn Thy praise,
And learn amid their choirs to sing
Loud hallelujahs to my King.

Amen.

Source: The Hymnal and Order of Service #178

Author: Johann Mentzer

Mentzer, Johann, was born July 27, 1658, at Jahmen, near Rothenburg, in Silesia, and became a student of theology at Wittenberg, In 1691 he was appointed pastor at Merzdorf; in 1693 at Hauswalde, near Bischofswerda; and in 1696 at Kemnitz, near Bernstadt, Saxony. He died at Kemnitz, Feb. 24, 1734 (G. F. Otto's Lexicon . . . Oberlausizischer Schriftsteller, ii., 581; ms. from Pastor Richter of Kemnitz, &c). He was a great friend of J. C. Schwedler, of Henrietta Catherine von Gersdorf, and of N. L. von Zinzendorf, all hymnwriters, and all his near neighbours. He was himself greatly tried in the furnace of affliction. He wrote a large number of hymns, over 30 of which appeared in the various hymnbooks of his time. Many of them, especially t… Go to person page >

Translator: Catherine Winkworth

Catherine Winkworth (b. Holborn, London, England, 1827; d. Monnetier, Savoy, France, 1878) is well known for her English translations of German hymns; her translations were polished and yet remained close to the original. Educated initially by her mother, she lived with relatives in Dresden, Germany, in 1845, where she acquired her knowledge of German and interest in German hymnody. After residing near Manchester until 1862, she moved to Clifton, near Bristol. A pioneer in promoting women's rights, Winkworth put much of her energy into the encouragement of higher education for women. She translated a large number of German hymn texts from hymnals owned by a friend, Baron Bunsen. Though often altered, these translations continue to be used i… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: O would, my God, that I could praise Thee
German Title: O dass ich tausend Zungen hätte
Author: Johann Mentzer
Translator: Catherine Winkworth
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

O DASS ICH TAUSEND ZUNGEN HÄTTE (König)

Johann Balthaser König (b. Waltershausen, near Gotha, Germany, 1691; d. Frankfurt, Germany, 1758) composed this tune, which later became associated with Johann Mentzer's hymn "O dass ich tausend Zungen hätte" (Oh, That I Had a Thousand Voices). The harmonization is from the Wurttembergische Choral…

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WER WEISS, WIE NAHE


DIR DIR JEHOVAH

DIR, DIR, JEHOVA was published anonymously in Georg Wittwe's Musikalisches Handbuch der Geistlichen Melodien (1690). The bar form (AAB) melody was expanded in Johann A. Freylinghausen's Geistreiches Gesangbuch (1704), where it was set to a hymn by Bärtholomaus Crasselius, "Dir, dir, Jehovah, vill i…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 14 of 14)
TextPage Scan

Chorale Book for England, The #5

Tune InfoPage Scan

Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church #3

Page Scan

Offices of Worship and Hymns #697

Songs and Hymns for Children's Voices #d26

Songs of Devotion #d14

Page Scan

The Evangelical Hymnal with Tunes #108

TextPage Scan

The Hymnal and Order of Service #178

Text

The Hymnal and Order of Service #178

The Hymnal of the Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod. Text ed. #d452

Page Scan

The Liturgy and the Offices of Worship and Hymns of the American Province of the Unitas Fratrum, or the Moravian Church #697

TextPage Scan

The Lutheran Hymnary #443

Page Scan

The New Alleluia #207b

TextPage Scan

Wartburg Hymnal #329

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