O wie freun wir uns der Stunde
O wie freun wir uns der Stunde. Karl Johann Philipp Spitta* (1801-1859).
First published in Spitta’s Psalter und Harfe. Zweite Sammlung (Leipzig, 1843) in six 8-line stanzas. It was entitled ‘Du hast Worte des ewigen Lebens’ (‘Thou hast the words of eternal life’, from John 6: 68). It is delightfully simple in places, as in verse 1b:
Lass uns heute nicht vergebens Hörer eines Wortes sein, Schreibe selbst das Wort des Lebens Tief in uns’re Herzen ein.
Let us not neglect today Hearers of the word to be: So that deep thy life-words may Be written in our hearts by thee.
It was translated by Richard Massie* as ‘O how blest the hour, Lord Jesus’* in Lyra Domestica: Second Series...
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MLA style (see MLA Style Manual and Guide to Scholarly Publishing, 3rd Ed.)
. "O wie freun wir uns der Stunde."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press. Web. 12 Jul. 2025.<
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/o/o-wie-freun-wir-uns-der-stunde>.
Chicago style (see The Chicago Manual of Style, 16th Ed.)
. "O wie freun wir uns der Stunde."
The Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology. Canterbury Press, accessed July 12, 2025,
http://www.hymnology.co.uk/o/o-wie-freun-wir-uns-der-stunde.