Composed by John Bartlet, “Of all the birds that I do know”, from “The King’s Singers, Madrigal History Tour, The England”

Lyrics:
Of all the birds that I do know,
Philip my sparrow hath no peer;
For sit she high, or sit she low,
Be she far off or be she near,
There is no bird so fair, so fine,
Nor yet so fresh as this of mine;

For when she once has hath felt a fit,
Philip will cry still: yet yet yet yet.

Come in a morning merrily
When Philip hath been lately fed;
Or in an evening soberly
When Philip list to go to bed;
It is a heaven to hear my Phipp,
How she can chirp with merry lip;

For when she once has hath felt a fit,
Philip will cry still: yet yet yet yet.

She never wanders far abroad,
But is at home when I do call.
If I command she lays on load
With lips with teeth, with tongue and all.
She chants, she chirps, she makes such cheer,
that I believe she hath no peer.

For when she once has hath felt a fit,
Philip will cry still: yet yet yet yet.

From Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth page 26-27:
A paraphrase of Psalm 12, this hymn was written in 1523, the same time as many of Luther’s other psalm-hymns. It was published in the first Lutheran hymnal, Achtliederbuch, of 1524. Luther’s version of the psalm reflects much of his own experience in the early days of the Reformation. Though several different tunes were used for this text with various levels of success, the present tune dates from 1524 and is possibly by Luther himself.

Prelude: Ach Gott vom Himmel
George Friedrich Kauffmann, 1679-1735
Publisher: Bärenreiter-Verlag, Kassel

LYRICS – O LORD, LOOK DOWN FROM HEAVEN, BEHOLD
Martin Luther 1524

1. O Lord, look down from heav’n, behold
and let Thy pity waken;
How few are we within Thy fold,
Thy saints by men forsaken!
True faith seems quenched on ev’ry hand,
men suffer not Thy Word to stand;
Dark times have us o’er taken.

2. 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.

3. May God root out all heresy
and of false teachers rid us
Who proudly say: “Now, where 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.

4. Therefore saith God, “I must arise,
the poor My help are needing;
To Me ascend My people’s cries,
and I have heard their pleading.
For them My saving Word shall fight
and fearlessly and sharply smite.
The poor with might defending.

5. 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 brighter through the cross,
and, purified from human dross,
It shines through ev’ry nation.

6. Defend Thy truth, O God,
and stay this evil generation;
And from the error of its way
keep Thine own congregation.
The wicked ev’rywhere abound
and would Thy little flock confound;
But Thou art our Salvation.

IF GOD WERE NOT BESIDE US NOW – By Martin Luther 1524

From Martin Luther: Hymns, Ballads, Chants, Truth page 17-18:
Luther’s friend Justus Jonas in 1524 wrote an eight-stanza paraphrase of Psalm 124. In contrast to the smooth-flowing style of Jonas, Luther also undertook the paraphrasing of the same psalm, his being shorter, more rugged, and closer to the text of the psalm. After Luther’s version was published in Walter’s Wittenberg hymnal of 1524, both his and Jonas’ paraphrases were included in early Lutheran hymnals. Walter’s tune is the one most associated with this text.

Tr. F. Samuel Janzow, 1913-2001
Setting by Richard Hillert
Publisher: Concordia Publishing House (1979)

LYRICS – IF GOD WERE NOT BESIDE US NOW
By Martin Luther 1524

1. If God were not beside us now,
so Israel is saying,
If God were not beside us now,
our state would be dismaying.
We are a weak and shrinking band
looked down upon on ev’ry hand
By those bent to destroy us.

2. So set against us in their will,
that if God’s help had tarried,
They would have ground us in their mill
and long since had us buried,
Like victims of a rolling tide
when sudden dark waves inland ride
To trample all beneath them.

3. Thank be to God,
who did not let their eager jawbones snatch us.
Like birds our souls escaped their net,
no snare of their can catch us.
Their traps are broken, we are free;
God stands us beside us with the key
To His good earth and heaven.