Scripture Verse

Will not the Judge of all the earth do right? Genesis 18:25

Introduction

portrait
Catherine Winkworth (1827–1878)

Words: Sam­uel Ro­di­gast, 1676 (Was Gott tut, das ist wohl­ge­tan). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Ca­the­rine Wink­worth, 1863, and oth­ers. Ro­di­gast wrote this hymn to cheer his friend Gas­tor­i­us, pre­cen­tor at Je­na, who had be­come ser­i­ous­ly ill. Gas­tor­i­us not on­ly re­co­vered, but went on to write the tune for Ro­di­gast’s words.

Music: Gas­to­ri­us Se­ve­rus Gas­to­ri­us, 1675 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Ro­di­gast or Gas­to­ri­us (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Whate’er my God or­dains is right:
His ho­ly will abid­eth;
I will be still what­e’er He doth;
And fol­low where He guid­eth;
He is my God; though dark my road,
He holds me that I shall not fall:
Wherefore to Him I leave it all.

Whate’er my God or­dains is right:
He ne­ver will de­ceive me;
He leads me by the pro­per path:
I know He will not leave me.
I take, con­tent, what He hath sent;
His hand can turn my griefs away,
And pa­tient­ly I wait His day.

Whate’er my God or­dains is right:
His lov­ing thought at­tends me;
No poi­son can be in the cup
That my phy­si­cian sends me.
My God is true; each morn anew
I’ll trust His grace un­end­ing,
My life to Him com­mend­ing.

Whate’er my God or­dains is right:
He is my friend and Fa­ther;
He suf­fers naught to do me harm,
Though many storms may ga­ther,
Now I may know both joy and woe,
Some day I shall see clear­ly
That He hath loved me dear­ly.

Whate’er my God or­dains is right:
Though now this cup, in drink­ing,
May bit­ter seem to my faint heart,
I take it, all un­shrink­ing.
My God is true; each morn anew
Sweet com­fort yet shall fill my heart,
And pain and sor­row shall de­part.

Whate’er my God or­dains is right:
Here shall my stand be taken;
Though sor­row, need, or death be mine,
Yet I am not for­sak­en.
My Fa­ther’s care is round me there;
He holds me that I shall not fall:
And so to Him I leave it all.