Encouraged by thy word

1 Encouraged by thy word,
Of promise to the poor,
Behold a beggar, Lord,
Waits at thy mercy door;
No hand, no heart, dear Lord but thine,
Can help or pity wants like mine.

2 The beggar's usual plea,
Relief from men to gain,
If offered unto thee
I know thou wouldst disdain:
But those which move thy gracious ear,
Are such as men would scorn to hear.

3 I have no right to say
That though I now am poor,
Yet once there was a day
When I possessed more;
Thou knowest from my very birth,
I've been the poorest wretch on earth.

4 Nor dare I to profess,
As beggars often do,
Though great is my distress,
My faults have been but few;
If thou shouldst leave my soul to starve,
It would be what I should deserve.

5 Nor dare I to pretend
I never begged before,
And if thou now befriend,
I'll trouble thee no more;
Thou often hast relieved my pain,
And often I must come again.

6 Though crumbs are much too good
For such a wretch as I,
No less that children's food
My soul can satisfy;
O do not frown and bid me go;
I must have all thou canst bestow.

7 Nor can I willing be,
Thy bounties to conceal
From others, who like me,
Their wants and hunger feel;
I'll tell them of thy mercy's store,
And try to send a thousand more.

8 Thy ways, thou only wise,
Our thought's and ways transcend,
Far as the arched skies
Above this earth extend:
Such pleas as mine men would not bear;
But God receives a beggar's prayer.

Divine Hymns, or Spiritual Songs: for the use of religious assemblies and private Christians 1800

• MIDI file from The Cyber Hymnal #9930