Classic Poem

Come , thou all-prevailing Spirit,
Come, and teach me how to pray;
Intercede for J ESU'S merit,
Wash, and take my sins away.
How much need of that atonement
Hath a guilty soul like me?
Who am not one fleeting moment
From some sinful passion free.

Sin, where'er I go, I find it,
Find it woven in my heart;
To thy cross, O J ESUS ! bind it,
Sin destroy, and grace impart:
Sin, like weeds, for ever springing,
Doth the soil throughout defile;
All my life's a life of sinning,
J ESU , save me, I am vile.

Yes, I sin in ev'ry action,
Sin in ev'ry word and thought;
I can't pray without distraction.
Sin, on all I do, is wrote.
When I to my closet enter,
Seeking peace in J ESU'S blood,
Swift as thought intrudes the Tempter,
Drives, or draws, my heart from God .

Thus, while I am prostrate lying,
While my lips in prayer move,
While, with seeming ardour crying,
For redemption from above;
Lo! I find, at that dread instant,
My vain heart is rov'd away,
Wander'd off, on something distant,
And my lips alone do pray.

Then abash'd, I silent wonder,
Why is such a rebel spar'd?
Why not cast amongst that number,
In eternal chains reserv'd?
Then with joy and shame confounded,
I exult in sovereign grace;
Grace which hath to me abounded,
Me, the worst of Adam's race.

L ORD , if I forget to praise thee,
Let my tongue forget to move;
J ESU , to thy likeness raise me,
Let me all thy goodness prove;
Let my guilt be now absolved,
My whole nature sanctify;
Lord, I long to be dissolved,
Make me meet, and let me die.