Scripture Verse

I…repent in dust and ashes. Job 42:6

Introduction

portrait
John G. Whittier
1807–1892

Words: John G. Whit­ti­er, The Tent on the Beach, and Other Po­ems 1867.

Music: Rest­ing Place Hen­ry Van­der Werp, 1911 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

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

Lyrics

I bow my fore­head to the dust,
I veil mine eyes for shame,
And urge, in trem­bling self dis­trust,
A pray­er with­out a claim.
No of­fer­ing of mine own I have,
Nor works my faith to prove;
I can but give the gifts He gave,
And plead His love for love.

I dim­ly guess, from bless­ings known,
Of great­er out of sight;
And, with the chast­ened psalm­ist, own
His judg­ments too are right.
And if my heart and flesh are weak
To bear an un­tried pain,
The bruis­éd reed He will not break,
But strength­en and sus­tain.

I know not what the fu­ture hath
Of mar­vel or sur­prise,
Assured alone that life and death
His mer­cy un­der­lies.
And so be­side the si­lent sea
I wait the muf­fled oar;
No harm from Him can come to me
On ocean or on shore.

I know not where His is­lands lift
Their fronde­d palms in air;
I on­ly know I can­not drift
Beyond His love and care;
And Thou, O Lord, by whom are seen
Thy crea­tures as they be,
Forgive me if too close I lean
My hu­man heart on Thee.