Scripture Verse

…having a desire to depart, and to be with Christ. Philippians 1:23

Introduction

Words: Le­on­hard Sturm, Nörd­ling­isch­er Kirch­en-Schall, od­er Geist­liche Seel­en-Lust (Nörd­ling­en, Germany: 1676) (Ich Fahr da­hin mit Freu­den). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Jane L. Borth­wick, Hymns from the Land of Lu­ther, 1854. Re­frain from same source as mu­sic (see be­low).

Music: Dr. J. A. Munk, 1884. Ap­peared in Gos­pel Jew­els, by Ralph E. Hud­son (Cleve­land Ohio: Pub­lish­ing House of the Ev­an­ge­li­cal As­so­cia­tion, 1890), num­ber 84 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Munk’s full name, or where to get a good pic­ture of him, Sturm or Borth­wick (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

I jour­ney forth re­joic­ing,
From this dark vale of tears,
To heav’n­ly joy and free­dom,
From earth­ly bonds and fears:
Where Christ our Lord shall ga­ther
All His re­deemed again,
His king­dom to in­her­it—
Good night, till then!

Refrain

Good night, good night,
Good night, till then!

Go to thy quiet rest­ing,
Poor ten­e­ment of clay!
From all thy pain and weak­ness
I glad­ly haste away;
But still in faith con­fid­ing
To find thee yet again,
All glo­ri­ous and im­mor­tal—
Good night, till then!

Refrain

Why thus so sad­ly weep­ing,
Beloved ones of my heart?
The Lord is good and gra­cious,
Though now He bids us part.
Oft have we met in glad­ness,
And we shall meet again,
All sor­row left be­hind us—
Good night, till then!

Refrain

I go to see His glo­ry,
Whom we have loved be­low;
I go, the bless­èd an­gels,
The ho­ly saints to know.
Our love­ly ones de­part­ed,
I go to find again,
And wait for you to join us;
Good night, till then.

Refrain

I hear the Sav­ior call­ing,
The joy­ful hour has come;
The an­gel guards are rea­dy
To guide me to our home;
Where Christ our Lord shall ga­ther
All His re­deemed again,
His king­dom to in­her­it—
Good night, till then!

Refrain