Evening
Now Rest Beneath Night's Shadow
- Words:
- Paul Gerhardt, 1648. Translation composite before 1941.
- Music:
- 'Innsbruck' or 'Nun ruhen alle Wälder' or 'O Welt, Ich Muss Dich Lassen' Heinrich Isaac, 1490.
- Setting:
- Johann Sebastian Bach, 1734.
- Metre:
- 7 7 6 7 7 8
- 1Now rest beneath night's shadowThe woodland, field, and meadow,The world in slumber lies;But Thou, my heart, awake thee,To prayer and song betake thee;Let praise to thy Creator rise.
- 2The radiant sun hath vanished,His golden rays are banishedBy night, the foe of day;But Christ, the Sun of gladness,Dispelling all my sadness,Within my heart holds constant sway.
- 3The rule of day is overAnd shining jewels coverThe heaven's boundless blue.Thus I shall shine in heaven,Where crowns of gold are givenTo all who faithful prove and true.
- 4To rest my body hasteth,Aside its garments casteth,Types of mortality;These I put off and ponderHow Christ will give me yonderA robe of glorious majesty.
- 5Lord Jesus, who dost love me,Oh, spread Thy wings above meAnd shield me from alarm!Though evil would assail me,Thy mercy will not fail me:I rest in Thy protecting arm.
- 6My loved ones, rest securely, For God this night will surelyFrom peril guard your heads. Sweet slumbers may He send youAnd bid His hosts attend you And through the night watch o'er your beds.
More sheet music
Scripture
Topics
In the hymnals
- The words are in 30 hymnals indexed by Hymnary.org. Their history →
- The tune, Innsbruck, is in 378 hymnals. The tune →
Words, music and setting are in the public domain. The score is from the Open Hymnal Project (Brian J. Dumont), which places its own work in the public domain. Further sheet music is from PDHymns.com. The piano is the FluidR3 General MIDI sound font (MIT licence). How many hymnals print a hymn, and when it was written, is from Hymnary.org.