Scripture Verse

Lead me in Thy truth, and teach me. Psalm 25:5

Introduction

portrait
Tobias Clausnitzer (1619–1684)

Words: To­bi­as Claus­nit­zer, in the Alt­dorf­lisch­es Ge­sang-Buch­lein, 1663, num­ber 20 (Lieb­ster Je­su, wir sind hier). Trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by Ro­bert A. S. Mac­al­is­ter, alt.

Music: Lieb­ster Je­su Jo­hann R. Ahle, 1664 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
Robert A. S. Macalister (1870–1950)

Lyrics

Look up­on us, bless­èd Lord,
Take our wan­der­ing thoughts and guide us;
We have come to hear Thy Word,
With Thy teach­ing now pro­vide us,
That, from earth’s dis­tract­ions turn­ing,
We Thy mes­sage may be learn­ing.

For Thy Spi­rit’s ra­di­ance bright
We, as­semb­led here, are hop­ing;
If Thou shouldst with­hold the light,
In the dark our souls were grop­ing:
In each word and thought di­rect us:
Thou, Thou only, canst cor­rect us.

Brightness of the Fa­ther’s face,
Light of light, from God pro­ceed­ing,
Make us rea­dy in this place;
Ear and heart await Thy lead­ing.
Fill with life and ins­pi­ra­tion
Every pray­er and me­di­ta­tion.