Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee! E’en though it be a cross That raiseth me, Still all my song shall be, Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer, my God, to Thee, Nearer to Thee! 2. Nearer, my Lord, to Thee, Nearer to Thee! Who to Thy cross didst come Dying for me. Strengthen my willing feet, Hold me in service sweet Nearer, O Christ, to Thee, Nearer to Thee! 3. Nearer, O Comforter, Nearer to Thee! Who with my loving Lord Dwellest with me. Grant me Thy fellowship, Help me each day to keep Nearer, my Guide, to Thee, Nearer to Thee! 4. But to be nearer still, Bring me, O God, Not by the visioned steeps Angels have trod. Here where Thy cross I see, Jesus, I wait for Thee, Then evermore to be Nearer to Thee! Sarah F. Adams, 1841; a. by H. D. Ganse, † 1891. 521 C. M. 8 l And let this feeble body fail And let it faint or die; My soul shall quit the mournful vale And soar to worlds on high; Shall join the disembodied saints And find its long-sought rest, That only bliss for which it pants, In my Redeemer’s breast. 2. In hope of that immortal crown I now the cross sustain And gladly wander up and down And smile at toil and pain. I suffer on my threescore years Till my Deliverer come And wipe away His servant’s tears And take His exile home. 3. Oh, what hath Jesus bought for me! Before my ravished eyes Rivers of life divine I see And trees of paradise! I see a world of spirits bright Who reap the pleasures there; They all are robed in spotless white, And conquering palms they bear. 4. Oh, what are all my sufferings here If, Lord, Thou count me meet With that enraptured host t’appear And worship at Thy feet! Give joy or grief, give ease or pain, Take life or friends away, But let me find them all again In that eternal day. Charles Wesley, 1759, a. 522 L. M. God of my life, to Thee I call; Afflicted, at Thy feet I fall: When the great water-floods prevail, Leave not my trembling heart to fail. 2. Friend of the friendless and the faint, Where should I lodge my deep complaint? Where but with Thee, whose open door Invites the helpless and the poor? 3. Did ever mourner plead with Thee, And Thou refuse that mourner’s plea? Does not the word still fixed remain, That none shall seek Thy face in vain? 4. That were a grief I could not bear, Didst Thou not hear and answer prayer; But a prayer-hearing, answering God Supports me under every load.