SONGS OUT OF ZION: PART I
Songs out of Zion 258
Lord Jesus Christ, My Savior Blest 447 444 7
We had to recite hymn verses every Friday. I’m not sure how happy I was to do this at the time, but now I am grateful for this unique aspect of my Lutheran School education. One of the hymns that made a strong impression on me was “Lord Jesus Christ, My Savior Blest.” I learned it out of the old Lutheran Hymnary (#278). It was also published in The Lutheran Hymnal (#353) and then the Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary (#258). What got my attention were the short lines and the unique rhyme sequence. These lines are still stuck in my head from when I learned them several decades ago:
I trust in Thee; Deliver me From misery (v. 1) Most heartily I trust in Thee; Thy mercy fails me never (v. 3) This will I plead In time of need. O help with speed (v. 6) I think the last stanza is the most poetic, as each line flows seamlessly to the next:
Grant, Lord, we pray, Thy grace each day, That we, Thy law revering, May live with Thee, And happy be Eternally, Before Thy throne appearing.
