Before Thee, God Who Knowest All

Representative Text

1 Before you, God, the judge of all,
with grief and shame I humbly fall.
I see my sins against you, Lord,
my sins of thought and deed and word.
They press me sore; to you I flee:
O God, be merciful to me!

2 O Lord, my God, to you I pray:
O cast me not in wrath away!
Let your good Spirit ne'er depart,
but let him draw to you my heart
that truly penitent I be:
O God, be merciful to me!

3 O Jesus, let your precious blood
be to my soul a cleansing flood.
Turn not, O Lord, your guest away,
but grant that justified I may
go to my house at peace to be:
O God, be merciful to me!

Source: Christian Worship: Hymnal #655

Author: M. B. Landstad

Magnus Brostrup Landstad (born 7 October 1802 in Måsøy, Norway and died 8 October 1880 in Kristiania) was a Norwegian minister, psalmist and poet who published the first collection of authentic Norwegian traditional ballads in 1853. This work was criticized for unscientific methods, but today it is commonly accepted that he contributed significantly to the preservation of the traditional ballads. Landstad lived with his father Hans Landstad (1771–1838) who was also a minister, first in 1806 to Øksnes, to Vinje in 1811 and to Seljord in 1819. He took a theological degree (cand. theol) in 1827, and worked after that as the resident chaplain in Gausdal for six years. After that he worked in different parishes in Telemark, Østfold befo… Go to person page >

Translator: Carl Døving

Born: March 21, 1867, Nord­dal­en, Nor­way. Died: Oc­to­ber 2, 1937, Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois. Buried: De­cor­ah, Io­wa.  Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Before Thee, God who knowest all
Title: Before Thee, God Who Knowest All
Norwegian Title: Jeg staar for Gud, som alting ved
Author: M. B. Landstad
Translator: Carl Døving
Meter: 8.8.8.8.8.8
Language: English
Refrain First Line: O God, be merciful to me
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

VATER UNSER

Martin Luther's versification of the Lord's Prayer was set to this tune in Valentin Schumann's hymnal, Geistliche Lieder (1539); the tune, whose composer remains unknown, had some earlier use. The tune name derives from Luther's German incipit: “Vater unser im Himmelreich….” Because VATER UNSE…

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Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #412
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 6 of 6)

Ambassador Hymnal #438

Text

Christian Worship (1993) #306

TextPage Scan

Christian Worship #655

TextPage Scan

Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #493

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #412

TextPage Scan

Trinity Psalter Hymnal #177

Include 4 pre-1979 instances
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