Holy Spir­it! pi­ty me,
Pierced with grief for griev­ing Thee;
Present, though I mourn apart,
Listen to a wail­ing heart.

Sins un­num­bered I con­fess,
Of ex­ceed­ing sin­ful­ness,
Sins against Thy­self alone,
Only to Om­nis­ci­ence known.

Deafness to Thy whis­pered calls,
Rashness ’midst re­mem­bered falls,
Transient fears be­neath the rod,
Treacherous trif­ling with my God.

Tasting that the Lord is good,
Pining then for poi­soned food;
At the fount­ains of the skies
Craving crea­ture­ly sup­plies!

Worldly cares at wor­ship time:
Groveling aims in works sub­lime;
Pride, when God is pass­ing by!
Sloth, when souls in dark­ness die!

Chilled de­vo­tions, changed de­sires,
Quenched cor­rupt­ion’s ear­li­er fires:
Sins like these my heart de­ceive,
Thee, who on­ly know’st them, grieve.

O how light­ly I have slept,
With Thy dai­ly wrongs un­wept!
Sought Thy chid­ing to de­fer,
Shunned the wound­ed Com­fort­er.

Woke to ho­ly la­bors fresh,
With the plague-spot in my flesh;
Angel seemed to hu­man sight,
Stood a le­per in Thy light!

Still Thy com­forts do not fail,
Still Thy heal­ing aids avail;
Patient In­mate of my breast,
Thou art grieved, yet I am blest.

O be mer­ci­ful to me,
Now in bit­ter­ness for Thee!
Father, par­don through Thy Son
Sins against Thy Spir­it done!