If God Himself Be For Me

Representative Text

1 If God Himself be for me
Who shall against me be?
His banner waving o'er me,
My foes in terror flee.
If God in Christ befriend me
And stay me with His arm,
The help that He doth lend me
Will keep me safe from harm.

2 My faith and hope are founded
On Jesus Christ alone,
He on the cross was wounded
That I a crown might own.
For what the world doth treasure
Is but a passing gain;
Through Christ in fullest measure
True riches I obtain.

3 In heaven there remaineth
A blissful rest for me,
A joy that never waneth,
A life from sorrow free.
Though tears I here am weeping
And bitter sorrows know,
I am in Jesus' keeping;
He sweetens all my woe.

4 My heart for joy is leaping,
It can no more be sad,
Is golden harvests reaping,
Sees naught but sunshine glad.
The Sun that cheers my spirit
Is Christ, my Lord and King;
The crown I shall inherit
Makes me rejoice and sing.

Source: Hymnal for Church and Home (2nd ed.) #212

Translator: Herman H. Brueckner

Born: March 11, 1866, Grundy County, Iowa (birth name: Herman Heinrich Moritz Brueckner). Died: January 25, 1942, Hebron, Nebraska (funeral held in Beatrice, Nebraska). Buried: St. Paul’s Lutheran Cemetery, Waverly, Iowa. After ordination in 1888, Brueckner pastored in Illinois, Michigan, Kentucky, and Wisconsin. He later moved to Iowa City, Iowa, and received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Iowa State University in 1917. In 1926, he joined the faculty of Hebron College in Nebraska. In 1938, Wartburg Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa, conferred an honorary Doctor of Divinity degree on him. He retired as professor emeritus from Hebron College in 1941. Sources: Erickson, p. 254 Findagrave, accessed 14 Nov 2016 Hustad, p. 213 Stulken, p.… Go to person page >

Author: Paul Gerhardt

Paul Gerhardt (b. Gräfenheinichen, Saxony, Germany, 1607; d. Lubben, Germany, 1676), famous author of Lutheran evangelical hymns, studied theology and hymnody at the University of Wittenberg and then was a tutor in Berlin, where he became friends with Johann Crüger. He served the Lutheran parish of Mittenwalde near Berlin (1651-1657) and the great St. Nicholas' Church in Berlin (1657-1666). Friederich William, the Calvinist elector, had issued an edict that forbade the various Protestant groups to fight each other. Although Gerhardt did not want strife between the churches, he refused to comply with the edict because he thought it opposed the Lutheran "Formula of Concord," which con­demned some Calvinist doctrines. Consequently, he was r… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: If God Himself be for me, Who shall against me be?
Title: If God Himself Be For Me
Author: Paul Gerhardt (1606)
Translator: Herman H. Brueckner
Meter: 7.6.7.6 D
Language: English
Publication Date: 1927
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

WEBB

George J. Webb (b. Rushmore Lodge, near Salisbury, Wiltshire, England, 1803; d. Orange, NJ, 1887) composed WEBB (also known as MORNING LIGHT) on a voyage from England to the United States. The tune was published in The Odeon, a collection of secular music compiled by Webb and Lowell Mason (PHH 96) i…

Go to tune page >


Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 2 of 2)
TextPage Scan

Hymnal for Church and Home #212

TextPage Scan

Hymnal for Church and Home (2nd ed.) #212

Suggestions or corrections? Contact us