With broken heart and contrite sigh

Representative Text

1 With broken heart and contrite sigh
A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry:
Thy pardoning grace is rich and free
O God, be merciful to me.

2 I smite upon my troubled breast,
With deep and conscience guilt oppressed;
Christ and His cross my only plea:
O God, be merciful to me.

3 Far off I stand with tearful eyes,
Nor dare uplift them to the skies;
But Thou dost all my anguish see:
O God, be merciful to me.

4 Nor alms, nor deeds that I have done,
Can for a single sin atone;
To Calvary alone I flee:
O God, be merciful to me.

5 And when, redeemed from sin and hell,
With all the ransomed throng I dwell,
My raptured song shall ever be,
God has been merciful to me.

Hymnal: according to the use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America, 1871

Author: Cornelius Elven

Elven, Cornelius, pastor for fifty years of the Baptist Church at Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, was born in 1797, and died in 1873. His hymn, "With broken heart and contrite sigh” (Lent), is found in several collections in Great Britain and America. It was written in Jan., 1852 (Miller's Singers & Songs, p., 449) for use at special services by his own congregation, and was included in the Baptist Psalms & Hymns, 1858. -- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)  Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: With broken heart and contrite sigh
Author: Cornelius Elven (1852)
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Timeline

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The Cyber Hymnal #7518
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Instances

Instances (1 - 5 of 5)
TextPage Scan

Christian Worship (1993) #303

TextPage Scan

Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #455

The Baptist Hymnal #286

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The Cyber Hymnal #7518

Welsh and English Hymns and Anthems #99b

Include 210 pre-1979 instances
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