Scripture Verse

God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us. Psalm 67:1

Introduction

portrait
Martin Luther (1483–1546)

Words: Mar­tin Lu­ther, Ein weise christ­lich Mess zu­halte (Wit­ten­berg, Ger­ma­ny: 1524) (Es woll’ uns Gott ge­nä­dig sein). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Ri­chard Mass­ie, 1851, alt.

Music: Es woll’ uns Gott Deutsch Kirch­en­amt (Strass­burg, 1525) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Lyrics

May God be­stow on us His grace,
With bless­ings rich pro­vide us,
And may the bright­ness of His face
To life eter­nal guide us
That we His sav­ing health may know,
His gra­cious will and plea­sure,
And also to the hea­then show
Christ’s rich­es with­out mea­sure
And un­to God con­vert them.

Thine ov­er all shall be the praise
And thanks of ev­ery na­tion,
And all the world with joy shall raise
The voice of ex­ul­ta­tion;
For Thou shalt judge the earth, O Lord,
Nor suf­fer sin to flour­ish;
Thy peo­ple’s pas­ture is Thy Word
Their souls to feed and nour­ish,
In right­eous paths to keep them.

Oh, let the peo­ple praise Thy worth,
In all good works in­creas­ing;
The land shall plen­te­ous fruit bring forth,
Thy Word is rich in bless­ing,
May God the Fa­ther, God the Son,
And God the Spir­it bless us!
Let all the world praise Him alone,
Let so­lemn awe pos­sess us,
Now let our hearts say, Amen.