Scripture Verse

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in His holy place? Psalm 24:3

Introduction

Words: Wal­ter J. Math­ams, 1882. Math­ams wrote these words in Ed­in­burgh, Scot­land, at the re­quest of the Psalms and Hymns Com­mit­tee of the Scott­ish Bap­tist Un­ion, which pub­lished it in the 1882 Psalms and Hymns for School and Home.

Music: Cut­tle Mills Will­iam J. Griff­ith, in The Eng­lish Hym­nal (Lon­don: Ox­ford Uni­ver­si­ty Press, 1906), num­ber 366 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
Walter J. Mathams
(1853–1931)

Lyrics

Jesus, friend of lit­tle child­ren,
Be a friend to me;
Take my hand, and ev­er keep me
Close to Thee.

Teach me how to grow in good­ness,
Daily as I grow;
Thou hast been a child, and sure­ly
Thou dost know.

Step by step O lead me on­ward,
Upward in­to youth;
Wiser, strong­er, still be­com­ing
In Thy truth.

Never leave me, nor for­sake me;
Ever be my friend;
For I need Thee, from life’s dawn­ing
To its end.