Psalm LXXXVIII

O Lord my life, my Savior, God

Author: Anne Steele (1760)
Published in 4 hymnals

Representative Text

I. O Lord, my life, my Saviour God,
Hear, while I spread my woes abroad;
While day and night my mournful cries
Before thy throne incessant rise.

II. Let thy indulgent pitying ear
Incline to my distressful pray'r;
With sorrow my full heart o'erflows,
And o'er me soon the grave will close.

III. My strength is lost, my life resign'd,
Among the dead my place assign'd;
Cut off from life, from hope and thee,
Scarce are the slain more lost than me.

IV. Low in the grave my hopes are laid,
And darkness spreads its deepest shade;
Thy dreadful wrath afflicts my soul,
Like whelming waves thy terrors roll.

V. Far from these wretched eyes remov'd,
Are all the friends whom once I lov'd;
They fly my sorrows, while I moan,
Confin'd, unpity'd, and alone.

VI. In vain to ease my hopeless woe,
The streaming tears incessant flow;
To thee, O Lord, I breathe my cries,
And stretch my hands and lift my eyes.

VII. Wilt thou from dust thy wonders raise?
And shall the dead awake to praise?
Thy kindness shall the grave record?
Or life destroy'd adore thy word?

VIII. Where ne'er one chearing ray of light
Breaks thro' the deep, the solid night,
Shall thy almighty pow'r be known?
Thy truth, shall dark oblivion own?

IX. Yet still to thee my cries ascend;
My earnest cries, O Lord, attend;
My nightly groans, my mourning pray'r,
Shall seek thee still with restless care.

X. Why, Lord, wilt thou reject my soul?
Thy smile can all my cares controul;
Why wilt thou hide thy blissful face,
While I in vain implore thy grace?

XI. Afflicted long have I complain'd,
And long a dying life sustain'd;
Expressless pain thy frowns impart,
Distracting horrors wound my heart.

XII. Thy fierce displeasure who can bear?
'Tis death array'd in black despair;
Like swelling floods thy terrors rise,
O'erwhelm my heart, and comfort dies.

XIII. My dearest friends who shar'd my heart,
Far from those mournful scenes depart;
While o'er my solitary head
Dark shades and dismal silence spread.

Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, Vol. 2 #190

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 >

Text Information

First Line: O Lord my life, my Savior, God
Title: Psalm LXXXVIII
Author: Anne Steele (1760)
Copyright: Public Domain

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