God reveals his presence

God reveals his presence. Gerhard Tersteegen* (1697-1769), translated by Frederick William Foster* and John Miller (1756-1790). This is a translation of part of Tersteegen’s ‘Gott ist gegenwärtig’* (verses 1, 2, 4, 7 and 8 of an eight-verse hymn). It was printed in the British Moravian Hymn Book (1789), and has remained in Moravian books until the present, though in shortened form (four verses in 1914). It follows Tersteegen’s metre, and is close to the original: thus verse 2, beginning ‘Gott ist gegenwärtig, / dem die Cherubinen / Tag und nicht gebücket dienen’ is ‘God reveals his presence, / Whom the angelic legions / Serve with awe (bowed down, from the German 'bücken') in heavenly...