HerHymnPrayer

A couple of years ago I spent a few babysitting evenings with a hymn book in my lap. I was so inspired by the words of many of the hymns and deep inside worshipped God through the words, even when I didn't know the music.

About the same time we attended the funeral at which a hymn was sung - although familiar, it was unfamiliar, and at the same time extra-familiar! You see it had been rewritten into modern language.

I decided to do the same for some of the songs I was reading. One that we have just learnt as a family is "O Jesus, I have promised". It really is my prayer...

O Jesus, I have promised
To serve You to the end;
Please stay forever near me,
My Master and my Friend:
I will not fear the battle
If You are by my side,
Nor wander from the pathway,
If You will be my Guide.

O let me draw close to You;
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, please draw nearer,
And shield my soul from sin.

O let me hear You speaking
Each day so clear and still,
Above the storms of passion,
The murmurs of self-will;
O speak to reassure me,
To chasten or control;
O speak and make me listen,
You’re the Guardian of my soul.

O Jesus, You have promised
To all who follow You,
That where You are in glory
Your servant will be too;
And, Jesus, I have promised
To serve You to the end:
O give me grace to follow,
My Master and My Friend.

John Ernest Bode, 1816-74
#526 The Methodist Hymn Book, 1933 ~ modernised June 2005