‘So wahr ich lebe’, spricht dein Gott

‘So wahr ich lebe’, spricht dein Gott. Johann Heermann* (1585-1647). First published in Heermann’s Devoti Musica Cordis (Leipzig and Breslau, 1630), where it was the first hymn in the Collection, at the beginning of a section entitled ‘Busse und Trost-Lieder’ (‘penance and comfort songs’). It had seven 6-line stanzas, and was entitled ‘Treue Vermahung aus dem H. Augustino dass man die Busse nicht aufschieben soll’ (‘A true admonition from St Augustine that one should not put off repentance’). The first verse is an imitation of the opening of a hymn by Nikolaus Herman*, ‘So war ich leb, spricht Gott der Herr’. It is based on Ezekiel 33: 11: ‘As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no pleasure...