Yea as I Live Jehovah Saith
Yea, as I live, Jehovah saith
Yea as I Live Jehovah Saith is a hymn text by Johann Roh (1525) in L.M. (8.8.8.8) meter. Translated by Augustus Toplady. Found in lsb 614, lw 235, tlh 331. Sung to ST. COLUMBA.
This hymn expresses the Lutheran emphasis on God's mercy and the Gospel promise that sinners need not perish but may receive forgiveness through repentance. It reflects the Reformation's recovery of the comfort found in God's gracious willingness to pardon those who turn to Him.
History & Background
Originally composed by Johann Roh as a German hymn in the early Lutheran tradition, emphasizing God's gracious willingness to pardon. Augustus Toplady translated it into English in 1774, bringing this message of divine mercy to English-speaking congregations.
Hymnal Appearances
- Lutheran Service Book — 614
- Lutheran Worship — 235
- The Lutheran Hymnal — 331
Translation
Bulletin Note
Composed by Johann Roh in 1525, this Reformation hymn sets Ezekiel's divine promise to the Passion tune 'Herzlich tut mich verlangen,' uniting Law and Gospel in a single cry: repent and live.
Preaching Connection
This hymn amplifies the Gospel's reversal of the Law's condemnation: God's oath transforms the threat of judgment into an invitation to repentance, revealing mercy as His deeper will and Christ as its fulfillment.
Stanza Arc
The narrative or theological arc traced by this tune's stanzas: Psalm 23 Christological transformation: establishment of Christ's sovereign care (1-2) → confession of human waywardness and divine retrieval (3) → victory over death through Christ's passion (4) → sacramental communion and eschatological promise (5-6)
Overview
Nikolaus Herman, cantor at Joachimsthal in Bohemia, wrote this hymn on the Office of the Keys. It begins with Ezekiel 33:11 — God does not desire the sinner's death (st. 1); recounts Christ's command to preach forgiveness (st. 2); quotes his giving of the authority to forgive and retain sins (st. 3) and to bind and loose (st. 4); teaches that absolution is Christ's own word, the minister his instrument (st. 5); that the absolved sinner stands forgiven and faith receives what Christ's blood purchased (st. 6); thanks the Son for full and free absolution and asks protection from 'false indulgence' (st. 7); and ends with a doxology (st. 8). It is the Small Catechism's 'Office of the Keys' set to music.
Central theme: Absolution as Christ's own forgiveness spoken through his ministers, received by faith
Structure
Eight long-meter quatrains. God's will (1) — Christ's command (2) — the Keys (3-4) — the minister as instrument (5) — the absolved stands forgiven (6) — thanks, against indulgences (7) — doxology (8). St. 2-4 are in Christ's voice.
Law & Gospel Shape
Gospel: God wills life; absolution full and free. Law: sins retained for the impenitent (3).
Confessional Connections
SC V: the Office of the Keys; 'when the called ministers of Christ deal with us by His divine command… this is just as valid and certain, in heaven also, as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself.' AC XI, XXV: private absolution retained; AC XXVIII: the power of the Keys is to preach the Gospel, forgive and retain sins. 'False indulgence' — the Reformation's protest against indulgences (Ninety-five Theses; SA III.iii). Faith receives (Ap XII).
Liturgical Use (Study Notes)
Confession and Absolution; ordinations and installations; Reformation; Lent.
Historical Notes
Herman (c. 1480-1561), cantor at Joachimsthal; the hymn appeared in 1560. Loy translated it in 1880.
About the Tune
ST. LUKE (Jeremiah Clarke, 1707).
Scripture References
Ezek 33:11 Ezek 18:23, 32 Luke 24:47 Mark 16:15 John 20:21-23 Matt 16:19 Matt 18:18 2 Cor 5:18-20 1 Cor 4:1 Luke 10:16 Rom 3:24 Acts 20:28 Eph 2:8
Stanza by Stanza
'As I live,' says the LORD, 'I do not want the sinner's death, but that he turn from error, repent, and live forever.'
Ezek 33:11 — God's oath that he desires repentance and life, not death. This is the foundation of the Keys: God's earnest will to save (FC XI.28). Absolution exists because God wants sinners to live.
- Scripture
- Ezek 33:11, Ezek 18:23, 32, 1 Tim 2:4, 2 Pet 3:9
- Imagery & language
- Divine oath.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — God's will for life.
- Connection to previous
- God's will.
So Christ commanded us: 'Go out and preach in every land; give my pardoning grace to all who repent and amend their ways.'
The Great Commission and Luke 24:47: 'repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in his name to all nations.' Forgiveness is not only announced generally but 'bestowed' — given. The Gospel is God's gift through the preached Word.
- Scripture
- Luke 24:47, Mark 16:15, Matt 28:19-20, Acts 2:38
- Imagery & language
- Command; preaching.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — commission to forgive.
- Connection to previous
- Christ's command.
'All whose sins you forgive I truly pardon and acquit; and those whose sins you retain will remain condemned and guilty.'
John 20:22-23: 'If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven them; if you withhold forgiveness from any, it is withheld.' Christ's promise: 'I truly pardon and acquit' — absolution is his act. Retention is for the impenitent, as a call to repentance.
- Scripture
- John 20:21-23, Matt 18:18, 2 Cor 2:6-10
- Imagery & language
- Remit and retain.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — forgiveness; Law — retention for the impenitent.
- Connection to previous
- The Keys.
'What you bind will be bound; what you loose will be free; the keys are given to my Church to open and close heaven's gates.'
Matt 16:19; 18:18. 'Unto My Church the keys are given' — the Keys belong to the whole Church, exercised publicly by called ministers (Treatise on the Power of the Pope 24, 68). They 'ope and close the gates of heaven' — the Gospel opens heaven; impenitence closes it.
- Scripture
- Matt 16:19, Matt 18:18, Rev 3:7, Isa 22:22
- Imagery & language
- Keys; gates.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel and Law — the two keys.
- Connection to previous
- The Keys continued.
The words of absolution are his who died that we might live; the minister Christ has sent is only his humble instrument.
The heart of the doctrine: absolution's words are Christ's, not the pastor's (SC V: 'as if Christ our dear Lord dealt with us Himself'). The minister is 'instrument' (2 Cor 5:20, 'ambassadors… God making his appeal through us'; 1 Cor 4:1). This guards against both clericalism and contempt for the office.
- Scripture
- 2 Cor 5:18-20, 1 Cor 4:1, Luke 10:16, John 20:21
- Imagery & language
- Words; instrument.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — Christ's own word of absolution.
- Connection to previous
- The minister.
When ministers lay on their hands, the sinner stands absolved by Christ; whoever believes the Word by grace receives what his blood purchased.
Private absolution with the laying on of hands, as in the Lutheran rite. 'Absolved by Christ the sinner stands' — objective forgiveness. 'He who by grace the Word believes' — faith receives the gift (Ap XII.39-42). 'The purchase of His blood' — forgiveness won at the cross (Acts 20:28).
- Scripture
- John 20:23, Acts 20:28, Rom 3:24, Eph 2:8, Mark 16:16
- Imagery & language
- Laying on hands; purchase.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — absolution received by faith.
- Connection to previous
- Effect.
All praise to you, eternal Son, for absolution full and free, in which you show your grace; guard our race from false indulgence.
Thanks for absolution 'full and free' — no price, no satisfaction required (against medieval penance). 'From false indulgence guard our race' — a direct Reformation protest: forgiveness cannot be bought (Ninety-five Theses; SA III.iii.24ff).
- Scripture
- Rom 3:24, Isa 55:1, Acts 8:20, 1 Pet 1:18-19
- Imagery & language
- Full and free; indulgence.
- Law / Gospel
- Gospel — free absolution; warning against indulgences.
- Connection to previous
- Thanks.
Praise God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, three in one, as it was, is now and shall be, world without end, forever!
A metrical Gloria Patri. The Keys are the work of the Triune God: the Father's will (st. 1), the Son's command and blood (2-7), the Spirit given for forgiveness (John 20:22).
- Scripture
- Matt 28:19, John 20:22, Rom 16:27
- Imagery & language
- Doxology.
- Law / Gospel
- Praise.
- Connection to previous
- Concludes.
Themes
God's mercy and compassion Repentance and grace Divine willingness to forgive Call to sinners