1 Jesu! Be Thy suffering love
Now my meditation:
Aid me from Thy throne above:
Bless my contemplation.
Now unto mine heart appear,
As, for my salvation,
Thou wast once a sufferer here—
Thou our expiation!
2 Let my faith behold Thee, Lord,
As for me surrounded
With derision, with the sword
Of revilers wounded:
Lo! the scourge—the crown of thorn,
Spear and nails all rend Thee!
Lo! Thy cruel foes with scorn
On the cross extend Thee!
3 Let me not in vain behold
What Thou hast endurèd:
Lord, the cause—the fruit unfold—
Fruit Thy death procurèd:
Lord, to Thee the cause I own,
I and my transgression:
Not Thy heathen foes alone
Owe to Thee confession.
4 Let me still with sorrowing heart
Be Thy griefs reviewing;
Nor by sin new grief impart,
All Thy wounds renewing.
Therein shall I pleasure take—
When for my transgression
God did an atonement make
Great beyond expression?