“HAVE MERCY UPON ME, O GOD.”
Psalm li.
Have mercy on me, O thou God of grace!
Thy sovereign clemency is all I plead.
My dark transgressions from thy book efface:
Their multitude Thy mercies still exceed.
My crime I own; it haunts me day and night;
Acted in secret, yet beneath Thine eye.
Before the world I own thy judgements right,
And thy most righteous sentence justify.
Heir to a sinful nature, I was brought
Into this world, to evil pre-inclined.
But Thou requirest purity of thought:
Oh, let thy truth illume this darkened mind.
As with blood-sprinkling hyssop, cleanse from sin
My leprous soul, that I may fall no more.
Wash me till I be pure as snow within,
And to my aching mind its health restore.
Oh, that my crimes were cancelled and forgot!
With a clean heart this guilty soul replace.
From Thy loved presence, Lord! reject me not,
Nor take from me Thy Spirit and Thy grace.
Give me again that joy of heart to know,
When I thy paths with filial freedom trod.
Then to transgressors I Thy ways will shew,
And lead converted sinners back to God.
From blood, the guilt of blood, deliver me,
Thou God of my salvation! All my days,
My tongue shall celebrate thy clemency.
Unclose my lips, and I will speak Thy praise.
No holocaust these guilty hands might bring,
Could as atonement with acceptance rise.
A contrite heart is my best offering:
A broken spirit Thou wilt not despise.
