Meine Seel, ermuntre dich.
Come, my soul, again inquire
If the love of Christ constrain thee.
To His cross again retire;
See Him give Himself to gain thee.
Search His faithfulness and try Him,
Glad in Him and gladdened by Him.
See Him there, God’s only Son
On the tree for thee suspended,
Crowned with thorns, by grief undone,
Crimson stains with crimson blended,
Pierced for thee, transfixed, forsaken:
Deathless love by death o’ertaken.
Thou, yea thou hadst known the rod,
Endless pain thy sole possession;
Thou hadst been cast off by God
For thy multiplied transgression;
But the Lord thy cause defended;
By His grace thou art befriended.
When in mighty woe He died
Vengeance ceased and wrath abated;
Sinai was satisfied;
All things old were new-created;
Sin and death and hell were thwarted;
Life and health and heaven imparted.
Jesus, grace sufficient give
That this mind be ever in me:—
Thine I am; to Thee would live;
Naught from Thee shall ever win me.
Thou wilt not forsake nor leave me;
Let me, Lord, in love receive Thee.
Johann Caspar Schade, 1692.
Tr. A. Ramsey.