In my quest for discovering old hymns, I’ve been collecting old hymn books. My sister, Nancy, who was supporting my endeavor, recently brought me an old Lutheran Hymnal that she had picked up at a garage sale. She had put a bookmark with a note on one of the pages.
It was a song our Dad used to sing to us in German when we were children. I imagine his mother sang it to him as well. Sometimes he would play the tune on his violin. Since I had never heard the English version I didn’t know how sweet the words were that he was singing to us. Below you will find the song with German and English words.
Sometimes simple is best. This is one of those times. I hope you enjoy it.
(In the first line there should be an Umlaut over the word Lasst and erlosen. I simply can’t figure out how to type it. Also, please forgive my very rusty German pronunciation.)
Gott ist Die Liebe – by August Rische (1819-1906)
Gott ist die Liebe, lasst mich erlosen, Gott ist die Liebe, Er liebt auch mich.
Drum sag ich noch einmal: Gott ist die Liebe! Gott ist die Liebe, Er liebt auch mich.
God loves me dearly, Grants me salvation, God loves me dearly, loves even me.
*Therefore I’ll say again: God loves me dearly, God loves me dearly, Loves even me.
I was in slav’ry, Sin, death, and darkness; God’s love was working to make me free. *
He sent forth Jesus, My dear Redeemer, He sent forth Jesus and set me free. *
Jesus, my Savior, Himself did offer; Jesus, my Savior, Paid all I owed. *
Now I will praise You, O Love Eternal; Now I will praise You all my life long.*
P.S. This is dedicated to my six grandchildren. Ashlee, Arianna, Aidan, Emerson, Will and finally Jase who was born 7-6-2021.
Windows of His Grace 
Like others, my maternal grandmother who lived with us (and our parents) were of German heritage. They prayed before and after meals in German and at some point they thought it was cute to hear me sing this in German as a preschool child. (They all spoke good English except when they didn’t want the kiddies to hear something.).
A wonderful childhood memory that still is with me. Thanks so much for keeping that memory for me and probably for many. (Not a great era to be known as German)
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Glad it brought back good memories. Music has a way of sticking with us. I was delighted to find the English words since I had no idea what they were. It was sung as a lullaby to us as children.
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This has brought back a childhood memory of when my German born grandmother lived with my family of parents and four children and thought it would be cute to teach Me(preschool age)this song. Im sure my singing it didn’t come out clearly so it was good to hear it clearly! Thanks for making it possible. Great memory!
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