Dispels the shades of night;
O Jesus, my Defender,
My soul’s supreme delight,
Though fortune should bereave me
Of all I love the best,
If Thou Thy love still leave me,
I freely give the rest.
I know no life divided,
O Lord of life, from Thee;
In Thee is life provided
For all mankind and me;
I know no death, O Jesus,
Because I live in Thee;
Thy death it is which frees us
From death eternally.
I fear no tribulation,
Since, whatso’er it be,
It makes no separation
Between my Lord and me.
If Thou, my God and Teacher,
Vouchsafe to be my own,
Though poor, I shall be richer
Than monarch on his throne.
If, while on earth I wander,
My heart is light and blest,
Ah, what shall I be yonder,
In perfect peace and rest?
O blessed thought in dying!
We go to meet the Lord,
Where there shall be no sighing,
A kingdom our reward.
Karl Johann Philipp Spitta Tr. Richard Massie
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