Loss of Friends, and Absence of Divine Grace

O God of my salvation, hear, My nightly groans, my daily prayer

Author: Joel Barlow
Published in 24 hymnals

Representative Text

1 O God of my salvation, hear
My nightly groan, my daily prayer,
That still employ my wasting breath;
My soul, declining to the grave,
Implores thy sov'reign pow'r to save
From dark despair and lasting death.

2 Thy wrath lies heavy on my soul,
And waves of sorrows o'er me roll,
While dust and silence spread the gloom:
My friends belov'd in happier days,
The dear companions of my ways,
Descend around me to the tomb.

3 As lost in lonely grief I tread
The mournful mansions of the dead,
Or to some throng'd assembly go;
Through all alike I rove alone,
While, here forgotten, there unknown,
The change renews my piercing woe.

4 And why will God neglect my call?
Or who shall profit by my fall,
When life departs and love expires?
Can dust and darkness praise the Lord?
Or wake, or brighten at his word,
And tune the harp with heav'nly quires?

5 Yet, thro' each melancholy day,
I've pray'd to thee, and still will pray,
Imploring still thy kind return —
But oh! my friends, my comfort's fled,
And all my kindred of the dead
Recall my wandering thoughts to mourn.

Source: Psalms, carefully suited to the Christian worship in the United States of America: being an improvement of the old version of the Psalms of David ; allowed by the reverend Synod of New York and Philad #174

Author: Joel Barlow

Barlow, Joel, born at Reading, Connecticut, 1755 [sic], graduated at Yale 1778, and died near Cracow, Poland, 1812, He was well known as an author and politician during and after the American Revolution. His publications include Hasty Pudding; Columbia, &c. In 1785, at the request of the (Congregational) General Association of Connecticut, he corrected and enlarged Dr. Watts's Psalms, supplying those omitted by Watts, and adapting the whole to American thought and circumstances. This work, published in 1786, went through various editions, and, although officially superseded by Dwight in 1800, it continued to be issued for many years after. Its title is somewhat curious as setting forth its design. It reads:— Psalms carefully suited to the… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: O God of my salvation, hear, My nightly groans, my daily prayer
Title: Loss of Friends, and Absence of Divine Grace
Author: Joel Barlow
Meter: 8.8.8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 24 of 24)

A Collection of Hymns Adapted to the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church #d417

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Psalms and Hymns, for Christian Use and Worship #P88.1

Psalms of David, a New Edition #d11

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Psalms #88

Sacred poetry #d350

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Sacred Poetry #aLXXXVIIIb

Sacred Poetry #d348

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Sacred Poetry #LXXXVIIIb

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The Christian Harmonist #221

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The Columbian Repository #194

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The New Hymn Book, Designed for Universalist Societies #441

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The New Hymn Book, Designed for Universalist Societies #441

The Psalms of David ... New ed. #d168

Zion's Hill #d45

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Doctor Watts's Imitation of the Psalms of David #159b

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Doctor Watts's Imitation of the Psalms of David #150

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Doctor Watts's Imitation of the Psalms of David #LXXXVIII

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Psalms, carefully suited to the Christian worship in the United States of America #174

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