The Cyber Hymnal ‎#2582

2582. How Oft, Alas!

1. How oft, alas! this wretched heart
Has wandered from the Lord,
How oft my roving thoughts depart,
Forgetful of His Word.

2. Yet sovereign mercy calls, Return;
Dear Lord, and may I come?
My vile ingratitude I mourn;
O take the wanderer home.

3. And canst Thou, wilt Thou yet forgive,
And bid my crimes remove?
And shall a pardoned rebel live
To speak Thy wondrous love?

4. Almighty grace, thy healing power
How glorious, how divine!
That can to bliss and life restore
So vile a heart as mine.

5. Thy pardoning love, so free, so sweet,
Dear Savior, I adore;
O keep me at Thy sacred feet,
And let me rove no more.

Text Information

• First Line: How oft, alas! this wretched heart
• Title: How Oft, Alas!
• Author: Anne Steele (1760)
• Meter: CM
• Language: English
• Source: Poems on Subjects Chiefly Devotional, 1760
• Copyright: Public Domain

Tune Information

• Name: SALZBURG (Haydn)
• Composer: Johann Michael Haydn, 1737-1806 (arr.)
• Meter: CM
• Incipit: 13554 33211 17154
• Key: F Major
• Copyright: Public Domain