Deck thyself with joy and gladness

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Deck thyself with joy and gladness

Author st. 1, st. 2-4: Johann Franck (1649, 1653); Translator: John Caspar Mattes (1913)
Tune: SCHMÜCKE DICH
Published in 6 hymnals

Audio files: MIDI

Piano/Organ
	Five Communion Hymns for Manuals

Choral
	Soul, Adorn Yourself with Gladness - (Ch…

Instrumental
	Music for a Celebration, Set 2

Representative Text

1 Deck thyself with joy and gladness,
Dwell no more, my soul, in sadness;
Let the daylight shine upon thee,
Put thy wedding garment on thee,
For the Lord of life unending
Unto thee His call is sending;
Come, for now the King most holy
Stoops to thee in likeness lowly.

2 Hasten, then, my soul, to meet Him,
Eagerly and gladly greet Him,
As without He standeth knocking,
Quickly, thy soul’s gate unlocking,
Open wide the fast-closed portal,
Saying to the Lord immortal,
Come, and leave Thy servant never,
Dwell within my heart forever.

3 Jesus, Source of life and pleasure,
Truest Friend and dearest Treasure,
Joy, the sweetest man e’er knoweth,
Fount whence all my being floweth,
Humbly now I bow before Thee,
And in penitence adore Thee;
Worthily let me receive Thee,
Perfect peace and pardon give me.

Source: Hymnal and Liturgies of the Moravian Church #374

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Author st. 1, st. 2-4: Johann Franck

Johann Franck (b. Guben, Brandenburg, Germany, 1618; d. Guben, 1677) was a law student at the University of Köningsberg and practiced law during the Thirty Years' War. He held several positions in civil service, including councillor and mayor of Guben. A significant poet, second only to Paul Gerhardt in his day, Franck wrote some 110 hymns, many of which were published by his friend Johann Crüger in various editions of the Praxis Pietatis melica. All were included in the first part of Franck’s Teutsche Gedichte bestehend im geistliche Sion (1672). Bert Polman… Go to person page >

Translator: John Caspar Mattes

Born: November 8, 1876, Easton, Pennsylvania. Died: January 27, 1948. Educated at the Theological Seminary at Mount Airy, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Mattes pastored in Trenton, New Jersey (1901-15), and Scranton, Pennsylvania (1915-38), and was a professor of theology at Wartburg Theological Seminary, Dubuque, Iowa (1939-48). Translations: Lo, How a Rose E’er Blooming O Spirit of Life http://www.hymntime.com/tch/bio/m/a/t/mattes_jc.htm Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Deck thyself with joy and gladness
German Title:	Schmücke dich, o liebe seele
Translator:	John Caspar Mattes (1913)
Author st. 1, st. 2-4:	Johann Franck (1649, 1653)
Meter:	8.8.8.8 D
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Tune

SCHMÜCKE DICH

Johann Crüger (PHH 42) composed SCHMÜCKE DICH for Franck's text and first published the tune as a setting for Franck's first stanza in Geistliche Kirchen-Melodien. The tune name is the incipit of the original German text. Johann S. Bach (PHH 7) used this tune in his Cantata 180; he and many other…

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