Unless stated otherwise, my source for hymn texts and tunes is The Lutheran Service Book.

Wednesday, September 20, 2023

LSB #696 "O God, My Faithful God"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  1 John 5:14-15; James 1:5, 17; 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

1 John 5:14-15:  "14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.  15 And if we know that he hears us in whatever we ask, we know that we have the requests that we have asked of him."

James 1:5:  "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives generously to all without reproach, and it will be given him."

James 1:17:  "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change."

1 Thessalonians 4:16-17:  "16 For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God.  And the dead in Christ will rise first.  17 Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord."

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The text is public domain:
O God, my faithful God,
True fountain ever flowing,
Without whom nothing is,
All perfect gifts bestowing:
Give me a healthy frame,
And may I have within
A conscience free from blame,
A soul unstained by sin.

Grant me the strength to do
With ready heart and willing
Whatever You command,
My calling here fulfilling;
That I do what I should
While trusting You to bless
The outcome for my good,
For You must give success.

Keep me from saying words
That later need recalling;
Guard me lest idle speech
May from my lips be falling;
But when within my place
I must and ought to speak,
Then to my words give grace
Lest I offend the weak.

Lord, let me win my foes
With kindly words and actions,
And let me find good friends
For counsel and correction.
Help me, as You have taught,
To love both great and small
And by Your Spirit's might
To live in peace with all.

Let me depart this life
Confiding in my Savior;
By grace receive my soul
That it may live forever;
And let my body have
A quiet resting place
Within a Christian grave;
And let it sleep in peace.

And on that final day
When all the dead are waking,
Stretch out Your mighty hand,
My deathly slumber breaking.
Then let me hear Your voice,
Redeem this earthly frame,
And bid me to rejoice
With those who love Your name.
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The asking in both 1 John 5:14-15 and James 1:5 seems to be the basis for the hymn and appears throughout the text.

James 1:17 appears in the line "All perfect gifts bestowing" in the first verse.

The sixth verse comes from 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17.

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The line "Without whom nothing is" in the first verse bears some resemblance to John 1:3:  "All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made."

The second verse seems to come (at least in part) from Romans 8:28:  "And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose."

"Both great and small" in the fourth verse is a merism.