WHAT LAWS, MY BLESSED SAVIOUR? 171

WHAT LAWS, MY BLESSED SAVIOUR?

(Herzliebster Jesu, was hast Du verbrochen ?)

JOHANN HEERMANN, 1630 (SCHAFF'S G. H. B., No. 108). Translated by F. E. Cox, 1841. Based upon the seventh Meditation of St. AUGUSTINE (d. 430). Comp. Mark xv. 14. “What evil hath He done?" and Isa. liii. 5, "He was wounded for our transgressions, He was bruised for our iniquities." Another excellent translation, by C. WINKWORTH, "Alas! dear Lord, what evil hast Thou done?” (Lyra Germ., I. p. 77).

WHAT

THAT laws, my blessed Saviour, hast Thou
broken,

That so severe a sentence should be spoken?
How hast Thou 'gainst Thy Father's will contended,
In what offended?

With scourges, blows, and spitting, they reviled Thee:

They crowned Thy brow with thorns, while King they styled Thee;

When, faint with pains, Thy tortured body suffered, Then gall they offered.

Say! wherefore thus by woes wast Thou surrounded?

Ah! Lord, for my transgressions Thou wast wounded. God took the guilt from me, who should have paid it; On Thee He laid it.

How strange and marvellous was this correction!
Falls the good Shepherd in His sheep's protection;
The servants' debt behold the Master paying,
For them obeying.

The righteous dies, who walked with God true

hearted:

The sinner lives, who has from God departed;
By man came death, yet man its fetters breaketh;
God it o'ertaketh.

Shame and iniquity had whelmed me over:
From head to foot no good couldst Thou discover;
For this in hell should I, with deep lamenting,
Be aye repenting.

But oh! the depth of love beyond comparing,
That brought Thee down from heaven, our burden

bearing!

I taste all peace and joy that life can offer,
Whilst Thou must suffer!

Eternal King! in power and love excelling,
Fain would my heart and mouth Thy praise be

telling;

But how can man's weak powers at all come nigh

Thee,

How magnify Thee?

WHAT LAWS, MY BLESSED SAVIOUR?

Such wondrous love would baffle my endeavor
To find its equal, should I strive for ever:
How should my works, could I in all obey Thee,
Ever repay Thee!

173

Yet this shall please Thee, if devoutly trying
To keep Thy laws, mine own wrong will denying,
I watch my heart, lest sin again ensnare it
And from Thee tear it.

But since I have not strength to flee temptation,
To crucify each sinful inclination,

Oh let Thy Spirit, grace, and strength provide

me,

And gently guide me.

Then shall I see Thy grace, and duly prize it,
For Thee renounce the world, for Thee despise it;
Then of my life Thy laws shall be the measure,
Thy will my pleasure.

For Thee, my God, I'll bear all griefs and losses:
No persecution, no disgrace or crosses,
No pains of death or tortures e'er shall move me,
Howe'er they prove me.

This, though at little value Thou dost set it,
Yet Thou, O gracious Lord! wilt not forget it;
E'en this Thou wilt accept with grace and favor,
My blessed Saviour.

And when, O Christ! before Thy throne so glorious, Upon my head is placed the crown victorious,

Thy praise I will, while heaven's full choir is ringing,

Be ever singing.

O WORLD! BEHOLD UPON THE

TREE.

(O Welt, sich hier dein Leben.)

From the German of PAUL GERhardt (1653), by C. WINKWORTH (Lyra Germ., II p. 52; SCHAFF, No. 113).

WORLD! behold upon the tree

Thy Life is hanging now for thee,
Thy Saviour yields His dying breath;

The mighty Prince of glory now

For thee doth unresisting bow

To cruel stripes, to scorn and death.

Draw near, O world! and mark Him well;
Behold the drops of blood that tell

How sore His conflict with the foe:
And hark! how from that noble heart
Sigh after sigh doth slowly start,

From depths of yet unfathomed woe.

O WORLD! BEHOLD UPON THE TREE.

175

Alas! my Saviour, who could dare
Bid Thee such bitter anguish bear,

What evil heart entreat Thee thus?
For Thou art good, hast wrongèd none,
As we and ours too oft have done :

Thou hast not sinned, dear Lord, like us.

I and my sins, that number more
Than yonder sands upon the shore,

Have brought to pass this agony. "Tis I have caused the floods of woe That now Thy dying soul o'erflow,

And those sad hearts that watch by Thee.

"Tis I to whom these pains belong, "Tis I should suffer for my wrong,

Bound hand and foot in heavy chains;

Thy scourge, Thy fetters, whatsoe'er
Thou bearest, 'tis my soul should bear,
For she hath well deserved such pains.

Yet Thou dost even for my sake
On Thee, in love, the burdens take,

That weighed my spirit to the ground.
Yes: Thou art made a curse for me,
That I might yet be blest through Thee:
My healing in Thy wounds is found.

To save me from the monster's power,
The Death that all things would devour,