Thou ten­der, gra­cious Fa­ther,
Who watch­es ov­er me,
How shall I ever praise Thee,
How love and hon­or Thee?
Thou guid­est me with cau­tion
From every sec­ret snare,
And ’neath Thy wings a re­fuge
I find in my des­pair.

With rai­ment, food and shel­ter,
Whate’er my needs im­ply,
For soul and bo­dy ev­er,
Do Thou in grace sup­ply.
O Lord, I soon would per­ish
If aught Thou should ex­clude;
O could I love Thee bet­ter
And prove my gra­ti­tude.

In child­like, true obe­di­ence
Help me to do the right;
May precious be Thy sta­tutes,
Thy yoke be plea­sant light!
And when some hard­ship threat­ens,
A dan­ger fright­ens me,
May Thou in all my tri­als
My pre­sent help­er be.

Thy heart is all com­pas­sion,
With love it ov­er­flows;
Whate’er of ill be­tide me,
Thou know­est, and my woes.
Thou dost not sleep nor slum­ber,
By night nor thru the days;
Thine arms, almig­hty Fa­ther,
Enfold all time and space.