1 SAVIOUR, lead us by Thy power
Safe into the promised rest;
Choose the path, the way whatever,
Seems to Thee, O Lord, the best;
Be our guide in every peril,
Watch and keep us night and day,
Else our foolish hearts will wander
From the strait and narrow way.
2 Since in Thee is our redemption
And salvation full and free,
Nothing need our souls dishearten
But forgetfulness of Thee;
Nought can stay our steady progress,
More than conquerors we shall be,
If our eye, whate'er the danger,
Looks to Thee, and none but Thee.
3 In Thy presence we are happy,
In Thy presence we're secure;
In Thy presence all afflictions
We can easily endure;
In Thy presence we can conquer,
We can suffer, we can die;
Wandering from Thee, we are feeble;
Let Thy love, Lord, keep us nigh.
The tune BAVARIA seems to be an adaption (with a different rhythm) of the tune O DU LIEBE MEINER LIEBE by Johannes Thommen (1711-83) in his Christenschatz, Basel (1745) which is also known as CASSEL or GREBE (see #21). It was originally a folk song ("Sollen nun die grünen Jahre") and was used as a hymn tune in the Catholic hymnal Bambergisches Gesangbuch (1732). However, GREBE is attributed to Johann Georg Ebeling (1637-76) so more research is needed to discover which came first.
