You help make Hymnary.org possible. More than 10 million people from 200+ countries found hymns, liturgical resources and encouragement on Hymnary.org in 2025, including you. Every visit affirms the global impact of this ministry.

If Hymnary has been meaningful to you this year, would you take a moment today to help sustain it? A gift of any size—paired with a note of encouragement if you wish—directly supports the server costs, research work and curation that keep this resource freely available to the world.

Give securely online today, or mail a check to:
Hymnary.org
Calvin University
3201 Burton Street SE
Grand Rapids, MI 49546

Thank you for your partnership, and may the hope of Advent fill your heart.

The suffering poor

Why dost thou stand afar

Tune: RHODES (Jordan)
Published in 6 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 Why dost Thou stand afar,
O Lord,in our distress?
And why dost Thou conceal Thyself
When troublous times oppress?

2 Do Thou, O Lord, arise;
O God, lift up Thy hand;
Forget Thou not the suffering poor,
The humble in the land.

3 Their foes Thou dost behold,
Their wrongs Thou wilt repay;
The poor commit themselves to Thee,
Thou art the orphan's stay.

4 Thou, Lord, hast heard their prayer
With humble hearts drew nigh;
Thou also wilt revive their strength
And ever hear their cry.

5 Defend the fatherless
And all who are oppressed,
That they by human pride and power
May be no more distressed.

The Psalter: with responsive readings, 1912

Text Information

First Line: Why dost thou stand afar
Title: The suffering poor
Meter: 6.6.8.6
Language: English
Refrain First Line: Do thou, O Lord, arise
Copyright: Public Domain

Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #7162
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 1 of 1)
TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #7162

Include 5 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us
It looks like you are using an ad-blocker. Ad revenue helps keep us running. Please consider white-listing Hymnary.org or getting Hymnary Pro to eliminate ads entirely and help support Hymnary.org.