Scripture Verse

The Lord is our defense. Psalm 89:18

Introduction

Words: Un­known au­thor, 12th Cen­tu­ry (Sal­va­tor mun­di Do­mi­ne). Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by Will­iam J. Cope­land & the com­pil­ers of Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern.

Music: Ware­ham Will­iam Knapp, 1738 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
William Knapp (1698–1768)

Lyrics

O Sav­ior, Lord, to Thee we pray,
Whose love has kept us safe to­day,
Protect us through the com­ing night,
And ev­er save us by Thy might.

Be with us now, in mer­cy nigh,
And spare Thy ser­vants when they cry;
Our sins blot out, our pray­ers receive,
Thy light through­out our dark­ness give.

Let not dull sleep the soul op­press,
Nor secret foe the heart pos­sess;
Our flesh keep chaste, that it may be
A ho­ly tem­ple meet for Thee.

To Thee, who dost our hearts re­new,
With fer­vent pray­er we hum­bly sue,
That pure in thought and free from stain,
We from our beds may rise again.

All praise to God the Fa­ther be,
All praise, eter­nal Son, to Thee,
Whom with the Spir­it we adore
Forever and for­ev­er­more.