Save me, for none beside can save;
At Thy command I tread
With failing step life's stormy wave;
The wave goes o'er my head.
I perish, and my doom were just ;
But wilt Thou leave me? No:
I hold Thee fast, my hope, my trust;
I will not let Thee go!
Still sure to me Thy promise stands,
And ever must abide;
Behold it written on Thy hands,
And graven in Thy side!
To this, this only, will I cleave ;
Thy word is all my plea;
Thy word is truth, and I believe :
Have mercy, Lord, on me!
James Montgomery. 1825.
O Jesus, Saviour of the lost,
My Rock and Hiding-place,
By storms of sin and sorrow tost,
I seek Thy sheltering grace.
Guilty, forgive me, Lord! I cry ;
Pursued by foes I come;
A sinner, save me, or I die;
An outcast, take me home,
Once safe in Thine almighty arms,
Let storms come on amain;
There danger never, never harms;
There death itself is gain.
And when I stand before Thy throne,
And all Thy glory see,
Still be my righteousness alone
To hide myself in Thee.
Edward Henry Bickersteth. 1858.
When at Thy footstool, Lord, I bend,
And plead with Thee for mercy there,
Think of the sinner's dying friend,
And for His sake receive my prayer.
O think not of my shame and guilt,
My thousand stains of deepest dye; Think of the blood which Jesus spilt, And let that blood my pardon buy.
Think, Lord, how I am still Thy own,
The trembling creature of Thy hand;
Think how my heart to sin is prone,
And what temptations round me stand.
O think upon Thy holy word,
And every plighted promise there ;
How prayer should evermore be heard,
And how Thy glory is to spare.
O think not of my doubts and fears,
My strivings with Thy grace Divine :
Think upon Jesus' woes and tears,
And let His merits stand for mine.
Thine eye, Thine ear, they are not dull;
Thine arm can never shorten'd be ;
Behold me here; my heart is full;
Behold, and spare, and succour me!
Henry Francis Lyte. 1833.
As o'er the past my memory strays,
Why heaves the secret sigh?
'Tis that I mourn departed days,
Still unprepared to die.
The world, and worldly things beloved,
My anxious thoughts employed,
And time unhallow'd, unimproved,
Presents a fearful void.
Yet, holy Father, wild despair
Chase from my labouring breast!
Thy grace it is, which prompts the prayer;
That grace can do the rest.
My life's brief remnant all be Thine!
And, when Thy sure decree
Bids me this fleeting breath resign,
O, speed my soul to Thee!
Bishop Thomas Fanshaw Middleton. [1831
Forth from the dark and stormy sky,
Lord! to Thine altar's shade we fly :
Forth from the world, its hope and fear,
Saviour! we seek Thy shelter here:
Weary and weak, Thy grace we pray :
Turn not, O Lord, Thy guests away!
Long have we roam'd in want and pain;
Long have we sought Thy rest in vain ;
Wilder'd in doubt, in darkness lost,
Long have our souls been tempest-tost :
Low at Thy feet our sins we lay;
Turn not, O Lord, Thy guests away!
Bishop Reginald Heber. 1827.
O Lord, turn not Thy face away
From them that lowly lie,
Lamenting sore their sinful life
With tears and bitter cry;
Thy mercy-gates are open wide
To them that mourn their sin;
O shut them not against us, Lord,
But let us enter in.
We need not to confess our fault,
For surely Thou canst tell;
What we have done, and what we are,
Thou knowest very well;
Wherefore, to beg and to entreat,
With tears we come to Thee,
As children that have done amiss
Fall at their father's knee.
And need we then, O Lord, repeat
The blessing which we crave,
When Thou dost know, before we speak,
The thing that we would have?
Mercy, O Lord, mercy we ask,
This is the total sum;
For mercy, Lord, is all our prayer;
O let Thy mercy come !
Variation by Bishop Reginald Heber. 1827.
From John Mardley. 1562.
"AND LEAD US NOT INTO TEMPTATION; BUT DELIVER US FROM EVIL."
Lead us, heavenly Father, lead us
O'er the world's tempestuous sea;
Guard us, guide us, keep us, feed us,
For we have no help but Thee;
Yet possessing
Every blessing,
If our God our Father be.
Saviour, breathe forgiveness o'er us;
All our weakness Thou dost know;
Thou didst tread this earth before us,
Thou didst feel its keenest woe;
Lone and dreary,
Faint and weary,
Through the desert Thou didst go.
Spirit of our God, descending,
Fill our hearts with heavenly joy;
Love with every passion blending,
Pleasure that can never cloy :
Thus provided,
Pardon'd, guided,
Nothing can our peace destroy.
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