Lord Jesus Christ, with Us Abide 5 O God, how sin’s dread works abound! Throughout the earth no rest is found, Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesu Christ L.M. Ach bleib bei uns et al., 1611 ! Geistliche Lieder, Leipzig, 1589 And falsehood’s spirit wide has spread, Tr. composite ! Arr. Mehrstimmiges Choralbuch, 1906, alt. And error boldly rears its head. ! 6 The haughty spirits, Lord, restrain Who o’er Thy Church with might would reign ! And always set forth something new, ! Devised to change Thy doctrine true. ! 7 And since the cause and glory, Lord, Are Thine, not ours, to us afford ! Thy help and strength and constancy. ! With all our heart we trust in Thee. ! 8 A trusty weapon is Thy Word, Thy Church’s buckler, shield, and sword. ! Oh, let us in its pow’r confide ! That we may seek no other guide! ! 9 Oh, grant that in Thy holy Word We here may live and die, dear Lord; ! And when our journey endeth here, ! Receive us into glory there. ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! 2 In these last days of sore distress Grant us, dear Lord, true steadfastness That pure we keep, till life is spent, Thy holy Word and Sacrament. 3 Lord Jesus, help, Thy Church uphold, For we are sluggish, thoughtless, cold. Oh, prosper well Thy Word of grace And spread its truth in ev’ry place! 4 Oh, keep us in Thy Word, we pray; The guile and rage of Satan stay! Oh, may Thy mercy never cease! Give concord, patience, courage, peace. “Lord Jesus Christ, with Us Abide” (“Ach bleib bei uns, Herr Jesus Christ”) was written mostly by Nikolaus Selnecker. In its present form, it was first published in Geistliche Psalmen, Nürnberg, 1611, some nineteen years after the author’s death. Stanzas 2–9 began as metrical prayers intended by Selnecker to accompany certain Psalms. Stanza 1, The Free -Book which is a German translation of a Latin couplet written by Philipp Melanchthon, was included in Nikolaus Herman’s metrical after-meal prayer, “Thank Ye the Lord Now and E’ermore” (“Danket dem Herrn presents heut und alzeit”). The stanza paraphrases Luke 24:29, in which the two disciples, having reached Emmaus, say to Jesus, “Abide with us: for it is toward evening, and the day is far spent.” In its original mealtime context, it may be applied to the literal setting of the sun, a request Lord Jesus Christ, with Us Abide for Jesus to remain among His faithful through the dark night. In its new context, together with the rest of Selnecker’s , it takes on an eschatological character: the hymn “Lord Jesus Christ, with Us by Abide” as a whole is directed against the devil, the world, and our flesh, enemies which are ever marshaled against the light of God’s Word, especially in these last days, the eventide of the world. Nikolaus Selnecker The history of the tune is also bound up with Herman’s meal hymn. When “Lord Jesus Christ, with Us Abide” was first published, it was to be sung to the tune “Erhalt uns Herr” (“Lord, Keep Us Steadfast in together with Thy Word”), a fitting association given the thematic similarities between the two . The present tune, however, was apparently first associated with “Danket dem Herrn” in Geistliche Lieder, Leipzig, Other Pious Pastors and Teachers 1589. Johann Crüger’s gives the tune with “Danket dem Herrn,” directing that “Ach bleib bei uns” be sung to it. It was only later, when “Danket dem Herrn” had fallen largely out of use, that the of the tune came to be regarded as belonging properly to “Ach bleib bei uns.” Recent versions of “Lord Jesus Christ, with Us Abide” leave out some stanzas and use copyrighted translations that are less than literal. The Evangelical Lutheran Church text here provided is a public domain composite translation as found in The Lutheran , 1941, #292. The musical setting, with a slight alteration based on Bartholomäus Gesius’s 1601 arrangement, comes from the Mehrstimmiges Choralbuch, St. Louis, 1906, which was passed on mostly unmodified to and thence to the published in , 2006, #585. For more information, visit the Free Lutheran Chorale-Book at: Davenport, Iowa lutheranchoralebook.com 2014