Scripture Verse

May my prayer be counted as incense before You, the lifting up of my hands as the evening offering. Psalm 141:2

Introduction

Words: Pa­ra­phrase of Psalm 141. Au­thor un­known.

Music: Comp­ton (Great­or­ex) in A Col­lect­ion of Psalm and Hymn Tunes, Chants, An­thems, and Sen­tenc­es, by Hen­ry W. Great­or­ex (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Ol­iv­er Dit­son, 1851), page 2 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

Lord, in Thy sight, O let my pray­er
Like morn­ing in­cense rise;
My lift­ed hands ac­cept­ed be
An ev­en­ing sac­ri­fice.

From has­ty lang­uage curb my tongue,
And let a con­stant guard
Still keep the por­tal of my lips
With wa­ry si­lence barred.

From wick­ed men’s de­signs and deeds
My heart and hands re­strain;
Nor let me share their ev­il works,
Or their un­right­eous gain.

Let up­right men re­prove my faults,
And I shall think them kind;
Like heal­ing oil up­on my head
I their re­proof shall find.