Scripture Verse

I will commune with thee from above the mercy seat. Exodus 25:22

Introduction

portrait
John Newton (1725–1807)

Words: John New­ton, Ol­ney Hymns (Lon­don: W. Ol­iv­er, 1779), Book 3, num­ber 12. The ef­fort—in an­oth­er mea­sure.

Music: Bal­ler­ma Fran­çois H. Bar­thé­lé­mon (1741–1808), adapt­ed by Ro­bert Simp­son in A Se­lect­ion of Orig­in­al Sac­red Mu­sic, 1833 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Simp­son (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els), or a bet­ter one of Bar­thé­lé­mon,

portrait
François H. Barthélémon (1741–1808)

Lyrics

Approach, my soul, the mer­cy seat,
Where Je­sus an­swers pray­er;
There hum­bly fall be­fore His feet,
For none can per­ish there.

Thy pro­mise is my on­ly plea,
With this I ven­ture nigh;
Thou call­est bur­dened souls to Thee,
And such, O Lord, am I.

Bowed down be­neath a load of sin,
By Sa­tan sore­ly pressed,
By war with­out and fears with­in,
I come to Thee for rest.

Be Thou my shield and hid­ing place,
That, shel­tered by Thy side,
I may my fierce ac­cus­er face,
And tell him Thou hast died!

O won­drous love! to bleed and die,
To bear the cross and shame,
That guil­ty sin­ners, such as I,
Might plead Thy gra­cious name.

Poor tem­pest toss­èd soul, be still;
My pro­mised grace re­ceive
;
’Tis Je­sus speaks—I must, I will,
I can, I do be­lieve.