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MY LORD, I DO NOT ASK TO STAND

Scripture Verse

Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thine heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy might. And these words, which I command thee this day, shall be in thine heart, and thou shalt teach them diligently unto thy children. Deuteronomy 6:5–7

Introduction

Words: Nor­man E. Ri­chard­son (1878–1945) and Flo­rence I. Jud­son-Brad­ley (1869–1944).

Music: Hes­per­us Hen­ry Bak­er, 1854. First pub­lished in A Hym­nal for Use in the Eng­lish Church, by John Grey, 1866 (🔊 ).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Jud­son-Brad­ley or Bak­er (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els), or a better one of Ri­chard­son would you send us an e-mail?

portrait
Norman E. Richardson (1878–1945)

Lyrics

My Lord, I do not ask to stand
As king or prince of high de­gree;
I on­ly pray that hand in hand
A child and I may come to Thee.

To teach a ten­der voice to pray,
Two child­ish eyes Thy face to see—
Two feet to guide in Thy straight way;
This fer­vent­ly I ask of Thee.

O grant Thy pa­tience to im­part
Thy ho­ly law, Thy words of truth;
Give, Lord, Thy grace, that my whole heart
May ov­er­flow with love for youth.

As step by step we tread the way,
Trusting, and con­fi­dent, and free
A child and I shall, day by day,
Find sweet com­pan­ion­ship with Thee.