Go Ad-Free
If you regularly use Hymnary.org, you might benefit from eliminating ads. Consider buying a subscription.
Psalm 130, from which this hymn derives, is one of the traditional penitential psalms. The versification (altered) is from the 1912 Psalter
Bert Polman, Psalter Hymnal Handbook
The gospel calls sinners to forsake their sin and turn to Jesus Christ in repentance that they may be forgiven. Our Song of Hope, stanza 16 says, “The Holy Spirit sends the church to call sinners to repentance, to proclaim the good news that Jesus is personal Savior and Lord.” The Canons of Dort, III-IV, 8 assures: “All who are called by the gospel are called earnestly. For urgently and most genuinely God makes known in the Word what is pleasuring to him: that those who are called should come to God.”