Jesus, Thou art ev­er near me
Blessèd Sav­ior of my soul,
And I hope to lin­ger near Thee
While the end­less ages roll;
Plunged in dark des­pair and sad­ness,
Paths of sin and death I trod;
Thou didst turn my grief to glad­ness,
Taught me how to walk with God.

I have oft­en grieved Thy Spir­it,
Put Thee to an op­en shame,
Naught but wrath could hope to mer­it,
Cast re­proach up­on Thy name;
Down the lone­ly road I wan­dered,
Of my doom was well aware;
Every hope and pro­ject squan­dered,
Hastening mad­ly to des­pair.

Oh, how pre­cious was the hour
When Thy hand was laid on me,
And by Thine al­migh­ty pow­er,
Broke my chains and set me free;
Then my life was filled with glo­ry,
And my heart re­joiced in Thee;
Now I love to tell the sto­ry
How my bless­èd Lord saved me.

Now no lon­ger I am roam­ing
In the wil­der­ness of sin;
As the days are go­ing, com­ing,
All is joy and peace with­in;
Thou to me my strength hast giv­en,
And Thy grace so full and free,
I am on my way to Hea­ven,
Walking day by day with Thee.