Low at thy gracious feet I bend

Representative Text

Low at thy gracious feet I bend,
My God, my everlasting friend,
Permit the claim, O let thy ear
My humble suit indulgent hear!

No earthly good my wish inspires;
Great is the boon my soul desires,
But thou hast bid me seek thy face,
Hast bid me ask thy promis'd grace.

O may thy favour (bliss divine!)
With fuller, clearer radiance shine!
Brighten my hopes, dispel my fears,
Till not a cloud of grief appears!

But O my heart, reflect with shame,
Canst thou prefer so bold a claim?
Conscious how often thou hast stray'd,
By empty vanities betray'd.

How oft, ungrateful to thy God,
Have trifles call'd thy thought abroad;
Till heavenly pity saw thee roam,
And bade affliction bring thee home.

And when the snares of earth were broke
By kind affliction's needful stroke,
Hast thou not own'd, with humble praise,
That just and right are all his ways?

Yes, gracious God, before thy throne
My vileness, and thy love I own;
O let that love with beams divine,
Forgiving, healing, round me shine!

Whene'er, ungrateful to my God,
This heedless heart requires the rod,
Thy arm, supporting, I implore,
The hand that chastens can restore.

O may the kind correction prove
A fruit of thy paternal love!
Wean me from earth, from sin refine,
And make my heart entirely thine!

Then shall my thankful powers rejoice,
And wake to praise this feeble voice:
While mercy, power, and truth employ
My love, my wonder, and my joy.

Source: Miscellaneous Pieces in Verse and Prose #73

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Author: Anne Steele

Anne Steele was the daughter of Particular Baptist preacher and timber merchant William Steele. She spent her entire life in Broughton, Hampshire, near the southern coast of England, and devoted much of her time to writing. Some accounts of her life portray her as a lonely, melancholy invalid, but a revival of research in the last decade indicates that she had been more active and social than what was previously thought. She was theologically conversant with Dissenting ministers and "found herself at the centre of a literary circle that included family members from various generations, as well as local literati." She chose a life of singleness to focus on her craft. Before Christmas in 1742, she declined a marriage proposal from contemporar… Go to person page >

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