Will Kelm's Church Sing This Hymn on Reformation Sunday?

O Lord, look down from heaven behold,
And let Thy pity waken
How few are we within Thy fold,
Thy saints by men forsaken!
True faith seems quenched on every hand,
Men suffer not Thy Word to stand;
Dark times have overtaken.

With fraud which they themselves invent
Thy truth they have confounded;
Their hearts are not with one consent
On Thy pure doctrine grounded.
While they parade with outward show,
They lead the people to and fro,
In error's maze astounded.

May God root out all heresy
And of false techers rid us
Who proudly say: "now where is is he
That shall our speech forbid us?
By right or might we shall prevail;
What we determine cannot fail;
We own no lord and master."

As silver tried by fire is pure
From all adulteration,
So through God's Word shall men endure
Each trial and temptation.
Its light beams brigher through the cross,
And, purified from human dross,
It shines through every nation.

The Lutheran Hymnal, #260.
Best sung to the tune of #387.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Will Kelm's Church Sing This Hymn on Reformation S...":

'With fraud which they themselves invent...' Wow, who knew that would become a problem and cancer for our dear beloved Wisconsin Synod? Dark times truly have overtaken! That is a powerful and prophetic hymn.

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Anonymous has left a new comment on your post "Will Kelm's Church Sing This Hymn on Reformation S...":

Written against Rome, presumably, yet rings so true in the light of WELS Growthers.

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Brian P Westgate has left a new comment on your post "Will Kelm's Church Sing This Hymn on Reformation S...":

We sang this at Zion Detroit this morning, to "Allein Gott in der Hoeh' sei Ehr'" Why do you prefer it to "Nun Freut Euch?" I personally would prefer we stick to singing it to the tune written for it. It has a haunting beauty to it, and fits it wonderfully.

GJ - I will work on the original melody. My choice was based on what people were used to singing. I have a lot of trouble introducing the great Lutheran hymns because Lutheran pastors before me have taken the easy route and used familiar non-Lutheran hymns. Now the synods are moving to Pentecostal, emotional, doctrinally-twisted ditties. Soon "Lord Keep Us Steadfast" will be a foreign hymn.