Scripture Verse

God be merciful unto us, and bless us; and cause His face to shine upon us. Psalm 67:1

Introduction

Words: John Tay­lor, in Se­lect­ion of Hymns for So­cial Wor­ship, by Will­iam En­field (Nor­wich, Eng­land: 1795), num­ber 149. The first verse in the text be­low was origin­al­ly the last verse. The 1795 text be­gan, God of mer­cy, God of love.

Music: Sey­mour from the op­era Ob­er­on, by Carl M. von We­ber, 1826. Hen­ry W. Great­or­ex pub­lished it as a hymn tune in 1851 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Tay­lor (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Carl von Weber (1786–1826)

Lyrics

God of mer­cy! God of grace!
Hear our sad, re­pent­ant songs.
O re­store Thy sup­pli­ant race,
Thou to whom our praise be­longs!

Deep re­gret for fol­lies past,
Talents wast­ed, time mis­spent;
Hearts de­based by world­ly cares,
Thankless for the bless­ings lent.

Foolish fears and fond de­sires,
Vain re­grets for things as vain:
Lips too sel­dom taught to praise,
Oft to mur­mur and com­plain.

These, and ev­ery sec­ret fault,
Filled with grief and shame, we own.
Humbled at Thy feet we lie,
Seeking par­don from Thy throne.