1 O Jesus, I have promised
to serve Thee to the end;
be Thou forever near me,
my Master and my Friend;
I shall not fear the battle
if Thou art by my side,
nor wander from the pathway
if Thou wilt be my Guide.
2 O let me feel Thee near me,
the world is ever near;
I see the sights that dazzle,
the tempting sounds I hear;
my foes are ever near me,
around me and within;
but, Jesus, draw Thou nearer,
and shield my soul from sin.
3 O let me hear Thee speaking
in accents clear and still,
above the storms of passion,
the murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me,
to hasten or control!
O speak, and make me listen,
Thou Guardian of my soul!
4 O Jesus, Thou hast promised
to all who follow Thee
that where Thou art in glory
there shall Thy servant be;
and, Jesus, I have promised
to serve Thee to the end;
O give me grace to follow,
my Master and my Friend!
First Line: | O Jesus, I have promised |
Author: | John Ernest Bode (1869) |
Meter: | 7.6.7.6 D |
Place of Origin: | Cambridgeshire, England |
Language: | English |
Notes: | Arabic translation: See "نذرتُ يا يسوعُ" by الياس مرمورة; Hawaiian translation: See "Ua ho'opa'a au e Ieus" by Edward Kahale; Portuguese translation: See "Eu resolvi seguir-te" by Henry Maxwell Wright; Spanish translation: See "Jesús yo he prometido" by Juan Bautista Cabrera Ivars; Swahili translation: See "Nakupia Yesu" |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
O Jesus, I have promised, p. 839, i. The original text of this hymn, as in the 1869 Appendix to the S.P.C.K. Psalms & Hymns, has been restored in the 1904 edition of Hymns Ancient & Modern "O let me feel Thee near me," in the Boston Hymns for Church & Home, 1895, is composed of stanzas ii. and iii. of this hymn. The original appeared as a leaflet (No. 1468), issued by the S.P.C K. in 1868 as "Hymn for the Newly Confirmed."
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)