Before Thy throne, O God, we kneel;
Give us a con­sci­ence quick to feel,
A rea­dy mind to un­der­stand
The mean­ing of Thy chast­en­ing hand;
Whate’er the pain and shame may be,
Bring us, O Fa­ther, near­er Thee.

Search out our hearts and make us true,
Wishful to give to all their due;
From love of plea­sure, lust of gold,
From sins which make the heart grow cold,
Wean us and train us with Thy rod;
Teach us to know our faults, O God.

For sins of heed­less word and deed,
For pride am­bi­tious to suc­ceed;
For craf­ty trade and sub­tle snare
To catch the sim­ple una­ware;
For lives be­reft of pur­pose high,
Forgive, for­give, O Lord, we cry.

Let fierc­est fires, which burn and try,
Our in­most spir­its pu­ri­fy:
Consume the ill; purge out the shame;
O God! be with us in the flame;
A new­born peo­ple may we rise,
More pure, more true, more nob­ly wise.