Christ My Song - 1457
The Lord his people all - The Lord knoweth his own
(Carl Johann Philipp Spitta/Richard Massie/
Johannes Thomas Rüegg)
The Lord knoweth his own.
1. The Lord his people all
doth know and understand;
he knows both great and small
of every tongue and land;
with tender care he watches
and guards them night and day;
he will not let one perish,
nor fall from him away. PDF - Midi
2. He knows them by their faith,
which, though it sees not, still
believes in all he saith,
who is invisible;
which, by the word begotten,
doth by the word increase,
before the word bows humbly,
and in the word finds peace.
3. He knows them by their hope,
which soars on eagle-wing,
and looks rejoicing up
to him, their Lord and King;
which basketh in the sunshine
of his eternal truth,
the wondrous plant which bloometh
in green perpetual youth.
4. He knows them by their love,
reflected from his own,
which cometh from above,
and by its fruit is known;
which pardons faults in others,
as he hath pardoned theirs,
which blesses those he blesses,
and bears with those he bears.
5. The Lord doth know his own
in every land and clime,
both great and small are known
to him in every time;
he knows them by their graces,
their faith, and hope, and love,
the work of his own Spirit
sent to them from above.
6. O Lord, give us this faith
and steadfast trust in thee;
let hope be bright in death,
our love more fervent be;
and, at thy last appearing,
let us at thy right hand,
arrayed in crowns of glory
and robes of pure white stand.
Richard Massie, Lyra Domestica II, 1864, 63-64.
Translated from the German Es kennt der Herr die Seinen - Der Herr kennt die Seinen
of Carl Johann Philipp Spitta.