1 I lift my soul to God,
My trust is in His name;
Let not my foes that seek my blood
Still triumph in my shame.
2 From the first dawning light
Till the dark evening rise,
For Thy salvation, Lord, I wait
With ever longing eyes.
3 Remember all Thy grace,
And lead me in Thy truth;
Forgive the sins of riper days,
And follies of my youth.
4 The Lord is just and kind;
The meek shall learn His ways,
And every humble sinner find
The methods of His grace.
5 For His own goodness' sake
He saves my soul from shame;
He pardons, though my guilt be great,
Through my Redeemer’s name.
Source: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #296
First Line: | I lift my soul to God |
Title: | Waiting for Pardon and Direction |
Author: | Isaac Watts |
Meter: | 6.6.8.6 |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
I lift my soul to God. I. Watts. [Ps. xxv.] Part i. of his version of Ps. xxv. in his Psalms of David, &c, 1719, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, headed "Waiting for Pardon and Direction." In the Church Pastorals, Boston, 1864, and other American collections, stanzas iii.-vi. are given as, " From the first dawning light." A cento in the Leeds Hymn Book, 1853, No. 31, begins with the same stanza. It is composed of stanzas ii., iv. of Pt. i.; stanzas i., vii., viii. of Pt. iii. The American arrangement is the more popular of the two.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)