Church Book ‎#546

546. Who knows how near my end may be?

1 Who knows how near my end may be?
Time speeds away, and death comes on.
How swiftly, ah, how suddenly,
May death be here, and life be gone!
My God, for Jesus' sake I pray
Thy peace may bless my dying day.

2 O Father, cover all my sins
With Jesus' merits, who alone
The pardon that I covet wins,
And makes His long-sought Rest my own.
My God, for Jesus' sake I pray
Thy peace may bless my dying day.

3 Then death may come or tarry yet;
I know in Christ I perish not.
He never will His own forget;
He gives me robes without a spot.
My God, for Jesus' sake I pray
Thy peace may bless my dying day.

4 And thus I live in God at peace,
And die without a thought of fear,
Content to take what God decrees,
For through His Son my faith is clear;
His grace shall be in death my stay,
And peace shall bless my dying day.

Text Information

• First Line: Who knows how near my end may be?
• German Title: Wer Weiss, wie nahe mir mein Ende
• Translator: Miss Winkworth (1858)
• Author: Emilia Juliana, Countess of Schwarzburg-Rudolstadt (1686)
• Meter: L. M.
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1890
• Topic: Death and Eternity: Preparation for Death; Sixteenth Sunday after Trinity

Tune Information

• Name: WER WEISZ, WIE NAHE WIR MEIN ENDE
• Meter: L. M.
• Key: E♭ Major
• Notes: From index: 1809