1 To thee, my God and Saviour, I
By day and night address my cry:
Vouchsafe my mournful voice to hear,
To my distress incline thine ear.
2 For seas of trouble me invade,
My soul draws nigh to death's cold shade;
Like one whose strength and hopes are fled,
They number me among the dead:
3 Like those who, shrouded in the grave,
From thee no more remembrance have;
Cast off from thy sustaining care,
Down to the confines of despair.
4 Thy wrath has hard upon me lain,
Afflicted me with restless pain:
Me all thy mountain waves have press'd,
Too weak, alas, to bear the least.
5 Remov'd from friends, I sigh alone,
In a loath'd dungeon laid, where none
A visit will vouchsafe to me,
Confin'd, past hopes of liberty.
6 My eyes from weeping never cease:
They waste, but still my griefs increase;
Yet daily, Lord, to thee I've pray'd,
With out-stretch'd hands invok'd thy aid.
7 Wilt thou by miracle revive
The dead, whom thou forsook'st alive?
From death restore, thy praise to sing,
Whom thou from prison would'st not bring?
8 Shall the mute grave thy love confess?
A mould'ring tomb thy faithfulness
Thy truth and pow'r renown obtain,
Where darkness and oblivion reign?
9 To thee O Lord, I cry forlorn;
My pray'r prevents the early morn;
Why hast thou, Lord, my soul forsook,
Nor once vouchsaf'd a gracious look?
10 Prevailing sorrows bear me down,
Which from my youth with me have grown
Thy terrors past distract my mind,
And fears of blacker days behind.
11 Thy wrath hath burst upon my head,
Thy terrors fill my soul with dread;
Environ'd as with waves combined,
And for a general deluge join'd.
12 My lovers, friends, familiars, all
Remov'd from sight, and out of call;
To dark oblivion all retir'd,
Dead, or at least to me expir'd.
Source: Church Hymn Book: consisting of newly composed hymns with the addition of hymns and psalms, from other authors, carefully adapted for the use of public worship, and many other occasions (1st ed.) #P.LXXXVIII