Psalm CXXX

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From the dark borders of despair

Author: Anne Steele (1760)
Published in 2 hymnals

Representative Text

I. From the dark borders of despair
To thee, my God, I cry;
O wilt thou pitying hear my pray'r,
And ev'ry plaintive sigh.

II. Lord, who shall stand before thy face,
If thou shouldn't mark our faults
With eye severe? What hope of grace
Could chear my mournful thoughts?

III. But sov'reign mercy dwells with thee,
Hope dawns amid my fears;
Divine forgiveness, large and free,
Shall stay my flowing tears.

IV. On God alone my soul would wait,
His sacred word my stay;
His sacred word can light create,
And turn my night to day.

V. As those who wait with longing eyes
To see the chearful morn,
So shall my ardent wishes rise,
'Till thou, my God, return.

VI. Let fainting Israel on the Lord
With chearful hope recline,
For pow'r and mercy in his word
With boundless glory shine.

VII. Unnumber'd thro' their sins appear,
And fill their hearts with pain,
His saving love dispels their fear,
And cleanses ev'ry stain.

Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, Vol. 2 #225

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Author: Anne Steele

Anne Steele was the daughter of Particular Baptist preacher and timber merchant William Steele. She spent her entire life in Broughton, Hampshire, near the southern coast of England, and devoted much of her time to writing. Some accounts of her life portray her as a lonely, melancholy invalid, but a revival of research in the last decade indicates that she had been more active and social than what was previously thought. She was theologically conversant with Dissenting ministers and "found herself at the centre of a literary circle that included family members from various generations, as well as local literati." She chose a life of singleness to focus on her craft. Before Christmas in 1742, she declined a marriage proposal from contemporar… Go to person page >

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