Fit Us for Thy Service, Lord

Representative Text

Fit us for Thy service, Lord,
Each one in Thy congregation
In his station;
Set us in the appointed place
To Thy praise;
Make us for The service able,
Ever willing, strong and stable,
Till in Thee we end our race. Amen.

--Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church (1969)

Author: Nicolaus Ludwig, Graf von Zinzendorf

Zinzendorf, Count Nicolaus Ludwig, the founder of the religious community of Herrnhut and the apostle of the United Brethren, was born at Dresden May 26, 1700. It is not often that noble blood and worldly wealth are allied with true piety and missionary zeal. Such, however, was the case with Count Zinzendorf. In 1731 Zinzendorf resigned all public duties and devoted himself to missionary work. He traveled extensively on the Continent, in Great Britain, and in America, preaching "Christ, and him crucified," and organizing societies of Moravian brethren. John Wesley is said to have been under obligation to Zinzendorf for some ideas on singing, organization of classes, and Church government. Zinzendorf was the author of some two thousand hymn… Go to person page >

Translator: John Gambold

Gambold, John, M.A., was b. April 10, 1711, at Puncheston, Pembrokeshire, where his father was vicar. Educated at Christ Church, Oxford, where he graduated B.A. in 1730, M.A. in 1734. Taking Holy Orders, he became, about 1739, Vicar of Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire, but resigned his living in Oct. 1742, and joined the United Brethren [Moravians], by whom lie was chosen one of their bishops in 1754. He d. at Haverfordwest, Sept. 13, 1771. He published an edition of the Greek Testament; Maxims and Theological Ideas; Sermons, and a dramatic poem called Ignatius. About 26 translations and 18 original hymns in the Moravian Hymn Books are assigned to him. One or two of his hymns, which were published by the Wesleys, have been claimed for them, bu… Go to person page >

Alterer: John Swertner

Swertner, John, b. Sept. 12, 1746, at Haarlem, in Holland, Moravian minister at various places in England and Ireland; d. at Bristol, March 11, 1813. --John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)  Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Fit us for Thy service, Lord
Title: Fit Us for Thy Service, Lord
Author: Nicolaus Ludwig, Graf von Zinzendorf (1738)
Translator: John Gambold (1751)
Alterer: John Swertner (1789)
Meter: 7.8.4.7.3.8.8.7
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

GUIDING STAR (Freylinghausen)

From Freylinghausen's Neues Geist-reiches Gesang-buch (Halle, 1714). See also Johannes Zahn, Die Melodien der deutschen evangelischen Kirchenlieder, vol. 4 (1891), no. 6373, for the history of this melodic variant.

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Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church #542

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Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church #588

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