Scripture Verse

Whom the Lord loveth He chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom He receiveth…No chastening for the present seemeth to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yieldeth the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby. Hebrews 12:6,11

Introduction

portrait
Paul B. Henkel (1754–1825)

Words: Paul B. Hen­kel, Church Hymn Book (New Mar­ket, Vir­gin­ia: So­lo­mon Hen­kel, 1816), num­ber 157, alt. Note: The 1816 edi­tion of this hym­nal does not name the au­thor. Paul Hen­kel’s son, Am­brose Hen­kel, iden­ti­fies his fa­ther as the au­thor by a dou­ble dag­ger symb­ol (‡) in the 1838 edi­tion, page 440.

Music: Wind­sor Chris­to­pher Tye, 1533. Ar­ranged in the Booke of Mu­sicke, by Will­iam Daman, 1591 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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

Lyrics

Have mer­cy Lord, on us we pray,
Thy grace to us re­veal;
O turn Thy plagues from us away
Tho’ we de­serve them well.

Thy pun­ish­ments are just­ly due,
And an­swer to our crimes!
And we are made to feel them too,
In these dis­tress­ing times.

Lord, what de­struct­ion death has made,
How has it swept our towns;
So ma­ny num­bered with the dead,
In neigh­bor­ing places round.

Death vi­sits us in all our homes,
And there makes his abode:
And hur­ries mor­tals to their tombs,
That sink be­neath his load.

Well may we sor­row, weep and mourn,
And pray with all our heart:
That God in mer­cy may re­turn,
And bid our plagues de­part.