Come near me, O my Savior;
Thy tenderness reveal;
O, let me know the sympathy
Which Thou for me dost feel;
I need Thee every moment;
Thine absence brings dismay;
But when the tempter hurls his darts,
’Twere death with Thee away.

Come near me, my Redeemer,
And never leave my side;
My bark, when tossed on trouble’s sea,
The storm cannot outride
Unless the word of power
Arrest the surging wave;
No voice but Thine its rage can quell,
No arm but Thine can save.

Come near me, blessèd Jesus,
I need Thee in my joy;
No less than when the direst ills
My happiness destroy;
For when the sun shines o’er me
And flowers strew the way,
Without Thy wise and guiding hand
More easily I stray.

Be near me, mighty Savior,
When comes the latest strife;
For Thou hast thro’ death’s shadows passed,
And oped the gates of life;
And when among the ransomed
I stand with crown and palm,
To Thee, divine, unfailing Friend,
I’ll raise eternal psalm.

Lord, when we bend before Thy throne,
And our confessions pour,
Teach us to feel the sins we own,
And hate what we deplore.

Our broken spirits, pitying see;
True penitence impart;
And let a kindling glance from Thee
Beam hope upon the heart.

Let faith each weak petition fill
And waft it to the skies,
And teach our hearts ’tis goodness still
That grants it, or denies.

When our responsive tongues essay
Their grateful hymns to raise,
Grant that our souls may join the lay
And mount to Thee in praise.

Then on Thy glories, while we dwell,
Thy mercies we’ll renew,
Till love divine transported tell
Our God’s our Father, too.

With broken heart and contrite sigh,
A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry;
Thy pard’ning grace is rich and free:
O God, be merciful to me.

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.

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.

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.

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.

I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.

’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.

I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.

Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.

Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.

Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
“’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.

These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”

What is the thing of greatest price,
The whole creation round?
That which was lost in Paradise,
That which in Christ is found:

The soul of man, Jehovah’s breath,
That keeps two worlds at strife:
Hell moves beneath to work its death,
Heav’n stoops to give it life.

God, to reclaim it, did not spare
His well-belovèd Son;
Jesus, to save it, deigned to bear
The sins of all in one.

The Holy Spirit sealed the plan,
And pledged the blood divine,
To ransom every soul of man;
That price was paid for mine.

And is this treasure borne below,
In earthen vessels frail?
Can none its utmost value know,
Till flesh and spirit fail?

Then let us gather round the cross,
That knowledge to obtain;
Not by the soul’s eternal loss;
But everlasting gain.