Scripture Verse

Cast all your care upon Him, for He cares for you. 1 Peter 5:7

Introduction

portrait
John Newton (1725–1807)

Words: John New­ton, Ol­ney Hymns (Lon­don: W. Ol­iv­er, 1779), Book 2, num­ber 43: On op­en­ing a place for so­cial pray­er. This hymn is some­times pub­lished with the first stan­za (and oth­ers) omit­ted, or the first and se­cond stan­zas rev­ersed.

Music: So­mer­set Will­iam H. Hew­lett (1873–1940) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

Lyrics

O Lord, our lang­uid souls in­spire,
For here, we trust, Thou art!
Send down a coal of heav’n­ly fire,
To warm each wait­ing heart.

Dear Shep­herd of Thy peo­ple, hear,
Thy pre­sence now dis­play;
As Thou hast giv’n a place for pray­er,
So give us hearts to pray.

Show us some to­ken of Thy love,
Our faint­ing hope to raise;
And pour Thy bless­ings from ab­ove,
That we may ren­der praise.

Within these walls let ho­ly peace
And love and con­cord dwell;
Here give the trou­bled con­sci­ence ease,
The wound­ed spir­it heal.

The feel­ing heart, the melt­ing eye,
The hum­ble mind b­estow;
And shine up­on us from on high,
To make our grac­es grow!

May we in faith re­ceive Thy Word,
In faith pre­sent our pray­ers;
And, in the pre­sence of our Lord,
Unbosom all our cares.

And may the Gos­pel’s joy­ful sound
Enforced by migh­ty grace,
Awaken many sin­ners round,
To come and fill the place.

illustration
The Shepherd
Julien Dupré (1851–1910)