The Child's Work

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O what can I do for my Lord? I am foolish, and small, and weak

Translator: Frances Bevan (1899)
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

Oh what can I do for my Lord?
I am foolish, and small, and weak;
And I know not what to do,
And I know not how to speak.

“O child, there is nought you can do—
Sit down at His Feet and be still;
But what can He do by you?
O child, He can do what He will.

“He asks for your heart alone,
Then leave to Him all the rest,
For the smallest and weakest one
Is the one He can work with best.

“He will work His mighty will
All through the livelong day,
By the child who loves Him well,
Whether at work or play.

“His love through your eyes will shine
Till some sad hearts rejoice,
His tenderness move your hands,
Make music in your voice.

“His Name will be sweet on your lips,
As the flowers when the year is young;
He tells the tale of His love
The best by a childish tongue.

“Where He leads you by the hand,
The power of God shall go—
A mystery and a might
As when He walked below.

“For Jesus is still the same,
And He does His marvels still;
And by His children small
He works His glorious will.”

Source: Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series) #154

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Translator: Frances Bevan

Bevan, Emma Frances, née Shuttleworth, daughter of the Rev. Philip Nicholas Shuttleworth, Warden of New Coll., Oxford, afterwards Bishop of Chichester, was born at Oxford, Sept. 25, 1827, and was married to Mr. R. C. L. Bevan, of the Lombard Street banking firm, in 1856. Mrs. Bevan published in 1858 a series of translations from the German as Songs of Eternal Life (Lond., Hamilton, Adams, & Co.), in a volume which, from its unusual size and comparative costliness, has received less attention than it deserves, for the trs. are decidedly above the average in merit. A number have come into common use, but almost always without her name, the best known being those noted under “O Gott, O Geist, O Licht dea Lebens," and "Jedes Herz will etwas… Go to person page >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	O what can I do for my Lord? I am foolish, and small, and weak
Title:	The Child's Work
Translator:	Frances Bevan (1899)
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain