2 The while I fain would tread the heavenly
Evil is ever with me day by day;
Yet on mine ears the gracious tidings fall: "Repent, confess, thou shalt be loosed from all."
3 It is the voice of Jesus that I hear;
His are the hands stretched out to draw me near,
And his the blood that can for all atone, And set me faultless there before the throne.
4 'Twas he who found me on the deathly wild,
And made me heir of heaven, the Father's child,
And day by day, whereby my soul may live,
Gives me his grace of pardon, and will give.
50 great Absolver, grant my soul may wear The lowliest garb of penitence and prayer, That in the Father's courts my glorious dress
May be the garment of thy righteousness.
6 Yea, thou wilt answer for me, righteous Lord;
Thine all the merits, mine the great reward; Thine the sharp thorns, and mine the golden crown;
Mine the life won, and thine the life laid down. Amen.
AVIOUR! when in dust to thee
Low we bow the adoring knee.
When, repentant, to the skies
Scarce we lift our weeping eyes;
O by all thy pains and woe
Suffered once for man below,
Bending from thy throne on high,
Hear our solemn litany!
2 By thy helpless infant years,
By thy life of want and tears,
By thy days of sore distress
In the savage wilderness,
By the dread mysterious hour
Of the insulting tempter's power;
Turn, O turn a favouring eye,
Hear our solemn litany!
3 By the sacred grief that wept
O'er the grave where Lazarus slept;
By the boding tears that flowed
Over Salem's loved abode;
By the anguished sigh that told
Treachery lurked within thy fold;
From thy seat above the sky,
Hear our solemn litany!
4 By thine hour of dire despair,
By thine agony of prayer,
By the cross, the nail, the thorn,
Piercing spear, and torturing scorn;
By the gloom that veiled the skies
O'er the dreadful sacrifice;
Listen to our humble cry,
Hear our solemn litany!
5 By thy deep expiring groan,
By the sad sepulchral stone,
By the vault, whose dark abode
Held in vain the rising God:
O from earth to heaven restored,
Mighty, reascended Lord,
Listen, listen to the cry
Of our solemn litany! Amen.
JESUS! Lord most merciful,
Low at thy cross I lie;
O sinner's Friend, most pitiful,
Hear my bewailing cry.
I come to thee with mourning,
I come to thee in woe;
With contrite heart returning,
And tears that overflow.
2 O gracious Intercessor!
O Priest within the veil!
Plead, for a lost transgressor,
The blood that cannot fail.
I spread my sins before thee,
I tell them one by one;
O for thy Name's great glory,
Forgive all I have done!
3 O by thy cross and passion,
Thy tears and agony,
And crown of cruel fashion,
And death on Calvary;
By all that untold suffering
Endured by thee alone;
O Priest! O spotless Offering!
Plead for me and atone!
4 And in this heart now broken,
Re-enter thou and reign;
And say, by that dear token,
I am absolved again;
And build me up, and guide me,
And guard me day by day;
And in thy presence hide me,
And keep my soul alway. Amen.
JESUS, thou art standing
In lowly patience waiting
To pass the threshold o'er:
Shame on us, Christian brothers,
His Name and sign who bear;
O shame, thrice shame upon us,
To keep him standing there!
2 O Jesus, thou art knocking:
And lo! that hand is scarred,
And thorns thy brow encircle,
And tears thy face have marred:
O love that passeth knowledge
So patiently to wait!
O sin that hath no equal,
So fast to bar the gate!
30 Jesus, thou art pleading
In accents meek and low:
"I died for you, my children,
And will ye treat me so?"
O Lord, with shame and sorrow
We open now the door:
Dear Saviour, enter, enter,
And leave us nevermore.
WITH broken heart and contrite sigh,
A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry:
Thy pardoning grace is rich and free:
O God, be merciful to me.
2 I smite upon my troubled breast,
With deep and conscious guilt oppressed;
Christ and his cross my only plea:
O God, be merciful to me.
3 Far off I stand with tearful eyes,
Nor dare uplift them to the skies;
But thou dost all my anguish see:
O God, be merciful to me.
4 Nor alms, nor deeds that I have done,
Can for a single sin atone;
To Calvary alone I flee:
O God, be merciful to me.
5 And when, redeemed from sin and hell,
With all the ransomed throng I dwell,
My raptured song shall ever be,
God has been merciful to me. Amen.
LORD, who throughout these forty
For us didst fast and pray,
Teach us with thee to mourn our sins,
And close by thee to stay.
2 As thou with Satan didst contend,
And didst the victory win,
O give us strength in thee to fight,
In thee to conquer sin.
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