1 The world, with siren voice,
Would oft my soul allure,
To swerve me from the better choice,
The good I would secure;
I sing, the pow’r to gain,
This old, familiar strain:
A charge to keep I have,
A God to glorify,
A never-dying soul to save,
And fit it for the sky.
2 I see the harvest field,
The field already white,
And all my life to Christ I yield,
To serve Him with delight;
My heart lifts up, with pray’r,
This old, familiar air.
To serve the present age,
My calling to fulfill,—
O may it all my pow’rs engage,
To do my Master’s will.
3 Temptation throng around;
I know my frailty still;
But faith has found the solid ground,
God will His word fulfill;
His grace lights shadows dim;
I sing the dear, old hymn:
Help me to watch and pray,
And on Thyself rely,
Assured, if I my trust betray,
I shall forever die.
Source: New Songs of Praise and Power 1-2-3 Combined #87
Pseudonym: Lidie H. Edmunds.
Eliza Edmunds Hewitt was born in Philadelphia 28 June 1851. She was educated in the public schools and after graduation from high school became a teacher. However, she developed a spinal malady which cut short her career and made her a shut-in for many years. During her convalescence, she studied English literature. She felt a need to be useful to her church and began writing poems for the primary department. she went on to teach Sunday school, take an active part in the Philadelphia Elementary Union and become Superintendent of the primary department of Calvin Presbyterian Church.
Dianne Shapiro, from "The Singers and Their Songs: sketches of living gospel hymn writers" by Charles Hutchinson Gabriel (… Go to person page >
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