
1 Lord, how shall wretched sinners dare
Look up to thy divine above?
Or offer their imperfect prayer
Before a just, a holy God?
2 Bright terrors guard thy awful seat,
And dazzling glories veil thy face;
Yet mercy calls us to thy feet,
Thy throne is still a throne of grace.
3 O may our souls thy grace adore
May Jesus plead our humble claim;
While thy protection we implore,
In his prevailing, glorious name.
4 With all the boasted pomp of war
In vain we dare the hostile field:
In vain, unless the Lord be there;
Thy arm alone is Britain's shield.
5 Let past experience of thy care
Support our hope, our trust invite!
Again attend our humble prayer!
Again be mercy thy delight!
6 Our arms succeed, our councils guide,
Let thy right hand our cause maintain;
'Till war's destructive rage subside,
And peace resume her gentle reign.
7 O when shall time the period bring,
When raging war shall waste no more;
When peace shall stretch her balmy wing
From Europe's coast, to India's shore.
8 When shall the gospel's healing ray
(Kind source of amity divine!)
Spread o'er the world celestial day?
When shall the nations, Lord, be thine?
Source: A Selection of Hymns: from the best authors, intended to be an appendix to Dr. Watt's psalms and hymns. (1st Am. ed.) #DXXVII
First Line: | Lord, how shall wretched sinners dare |
Title: | On a Day of Prayer for Success in War |
Author: | Anne Steele |
Meter: | 8.8.8.8 |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Lord, how shall wretched sinners dare. Anne Steele. [In Time of War.] Appeared in the 2nd edition of her Poems on Subjects chiefly Devotional, 1780, vol. iii. p. 123, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed, "On the day of Prayer for success in War." It is also in D. Sedgwick's reprint of Miss Steele's Hymns, 1863. In a few American hymnbooks, including the Presbyterian Selection of Hymns, Philadelphia, 1861, a cento from this is given as "Lord, may our souls Thy grace adore." It begins with stanza iii., somewhat altered.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)