Friday, August 19, 2011

Amazing Grace 2.0

As a hymn nerd, I enjoy watching hymnals progress. In the LCMS, there was the ELHB, then TLH, then LW, and now LSB. In the Ohio Synod, there was the Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal, the American Lutheran Hymnal, and the... nope, they merged and there was never an update to the ALH. This post is the first of a few that will try to update some of the gems ALH has.

Who: I can't find any info on the hymnwriter, Christian Ludwig Scheidt, but the translator was Hermann Brueckner, who translated many, many hymns for the ALH.
What: This hymn, an alternative translation to "By Grace I'm Saved" (LSB 566), reminds us that salvation does not depend on our works, reason, or feelings, but only on Jesus' grace. 
Changes: I have severely updated the text.
Note: To see all ten stanzas in English, check out Evangelical Lutheran Hymnal 252.
Tune: O DASS ICH TAUSEND ZUNGEN HÄTTE, LSB 566.

Amazing Grace! I am God's child_!
This promise you can trust, my heart.
God's Word is pure and undefiled_,
It is the truth in whole and part.
His Word is ever strong and true:
By grace He gives new life to you.

Amazing grace! I shall inherit
That blissful home beyond the skies.
Works count for nothing, God incarnate
Has won for me the heav'nly prize.
His death means my sins are atoned
And I am saved by grace alone.

Amazing grace! Mark well this promise
When you're oppressed by all your sin,
When Satan comes to vex your conscience,
And when your heart seeks peace within.
What reason cannot understand
God by His grace to you will send.

Amazing grace! Salvation's fountain,
As long as God is truth, will flow.
What all the saints of God have written,
What God's own words so plainly show,
What faith alone can rest upon
Is grace alone in God's own Son.

Amazing grace! This sav'ry sentence
On my death bed shall comfort me.
I know my sin in all its greatness,
But also Him Who sets me free.
My heart to peace and joy gives place
Since I'm saved by amazing grace.
Aus Gnaden soll ich selig werden
C.L. Scheidt
Tr. H. Brueckner, ed. MDS

No comments:

Search This Blog