LSB #748 "I'm But a Stranger Here"

Biblical citations in the hymnal:  Hebrews 11:13-16, Philippians 3:20, Ephesians 2:19, Hebrews 4:9

Hebrews 11:13-16:  "13 These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth.  14 For people who speak this make it clear that they are seeking a homeland.  15 If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return.  16 But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one.  Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city."

Philippians 3:20:  "But our citizenship is in heaven, and from it we await a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ"

Ephesians 2:19:  "So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God"

Hebrews 4:9:  "So then, there remains a Sabbath rest for the people of God"

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The text is public domain:

1 I'm but a stranger here,

Heav'n is my home;

Earth is a desert drear,

Heav'n is my home.

Danger and sorrow stand

Round me on ev'ry hand;

Heav'n is my fatherland,

Heav'n is my home.

2 What though the tempest rage,

Heav'n is my home;

Short is my pilgrimage,

Heav'n is my home;

And time's wild wintry blast

Soon shall be overpast;

I shall reach home at last,

Heav'n is my home.

3 Therefore I murmur not,

Heav'n is my home;

Whate'er my earthly lot,

Heav'n is my home;

And I shall surely stand

There at my Lord's right hand;

Heav'n is my fatherland,

Heav'n is my home.

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All of the cited texts express a similar idea (although Hebrews 4:9 puts it in slightly different terms), and this appears throughout the hymn as "Heav'n is my home."

"Strangers and exiles" from Hebrews 11:13 and "strangers and aliens" from Ephesians 2:19 appear in the line "I'm but a stranger here" at the beginning of the hymn.  The same idea is also in Psalm 119:19:  "I am a sojourner on the earth; hide not your commandments from me!"

"I'm But a Stranger Here"

Archival post from 30 April 2016

Last week in church, I sang "I'm But a Stranger Here," and I noticed something about the final phrase:

The hymn is in G major, and both "Heav'n" and "home" in that final phrase are sung to G notes, the tonic (or home note) of G major, so there's a musical feeling of returning home when both "Heav'n" and "home" are sung.

When I started this project, I made a point to separate the text from the tune because some texts are sung to different tunes and some tunes are used with different texts, but I think "I'm But a Stranger Here" is pretty firmly tied to "Heaven Is My Home," which is the tune it's sung to.  What I mean is that I think "I'm But a Stranger Here" and "Heaven Is My Home" were written for each other, since the title of the tune is a phrase in the text itself.