Psalms of Grace ‎#39a

39a. When I Resolv'd to Watch My Thoughts

1 When I resolv'd to watch my thoughts,
To watch my words and all my ways,
Lest I should with unwary faults,
Offend the God my life should praise;

2 In mournful silence long restrain'd,
My thoughts were press'd with secret grief;
My heart with sad reflection, pain'd,
In silence sound no kind relief.

3 While thus the inward anguish burn'd,
My straiten'd speech at length found way;
My tongue in broken accents mourn'd
Before my God, and try'd to pray.

4 Almighty Maker of my frame,
Teach me the measure of my days,
Teach me to know how frail I am,
And spend the remnant to Thy praise.

5 My days are shorter than a span,
A little point my life appears;
How frail at best is dying man!
How vain are all his hopes and fears!

6 Vain his ambition, noise, and show!
Vain are the cares which rack his mind
He heaps up treasures mix'd with woe,
And dies, and leaves them all behind.

7 O He a nobler portion mine;
My God, I bow before Thy throne,
Earth's fleeting treasures I resign,
And fix my hope on Thee alone.

8 Save me, by Thy almighty arm,
From all my sins, and cleanse my faults
Then guilt nor folly shall alarm
My soul, or vex my peaceful thoughts.

9 Beneath the chastening of Thy hand,
Let not my heart or tongue repine;
But silent and submissive bend,
And bear the stroke because tis Thine.

10 But O let mercy soon prevail,
Thy awful anger to remove;
The stroke is just, but I am frail,
Thy sparing goodness let me prove.

11 Frail man, how soon his beauty flies!
He sins, and God afflicts with pain;
Crush'd like the feeble moth he dies;
His strength, how impotent and vain!

12 LORD, will You gracious hear my cry,
Pity my tears, and heal my woe?
As were my fathers, so am I,
A wretched stranger here below.

13 O spare me, and my strength restore,
Ere my few hasty minutes flee;
And when my days on earth are o'er,
Let me for ever dwell with Thee.

Text Information

• First Line: When I resolv'd to watch my thoughts
• Title: When I Resolv'd to Watch My Thoughts
• Author: Anne Steele, 1717-1778
• Meter: 8.8.8.8 LM
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 2022
• Scripture:
  Psalm 39

Tune Information

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