Scripture Verse

How shall a young man cleanse his way? By taking heed of it according to Thy Word. Psalm 119:9

Introduction

Words: John Cross, in Hymns for the Use of Child­ren‎, Tract and Book So­cie­ty of The Ev­an­ge­li­cal Lu­ther­an Church of St. John (Ph­ila­del­phia, Penn­syl­vania: Wil­liam Fry, print­er, 1819), num­ber 14, alt. The word of God, the best guide of youth.

Music: Pa­ti­ala, in The Sweet Sing­er, ed­it­ed by S. J. Good­enough & Karl Re­den (pseu­do­nym of Charles C. Con­verse) (New York: Carl­ton & Porter, 1863), page 41 (🔊 pdf nwc). Mu­sic ar­ranged from the Ger­man ex­press­ly for this work.

If you know the com­pos­er, or where to get a good pic­ture of him or Cross (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

The morn of life, how fair and gay!
How cheer­ing and how new!
What hopes il­lume each op­en­ing day,
And bright­ens ev­ery view.

Youth’s ard­ent minds, with joy elate,
Elastic and sin­cere,
Suspect no ills that may await,
Nor yield a thought to fear.

But slip­pe­ry is the path they tread,
In plea­sure’s dan­ger­ous way;
A thou­sand snares around them spread,
And oft their feet be­tray.

How shall they, then, their course pur­sue,
On life’s un­cer­tain road?
What friend­ly hand will point their view,
To du­ty and to God?

In God’s own word the way is sure,
And clear to ev­ery eye;
It leads them on a path se­cure
To bright­er worlds on high.

Oh be this word their con­stant guide,
Their stead­fast hope and trust!
It ne’er can fail, though all be­side
Shall min­gle with the dust.