For Thy Mercy and Thy Grace
by Henry Downton, 1818-1885
 
1. For Thy mercy and Thy grace,
Faithful through another year,
Hear our song of thankfulness;
Savior and Redeemer, hear!
 
2. Lo, our sins on Thee we cast,
Thee, our perfect Sacrifice,
And, forgetting all the past,
Press unto our glorious prize.
 
3. Dark the future; let Thy light
Guide us, bright and Morning Star.
Fierce our foes and hard the fight;
Arm us, Savior, for the war.
 
4. In our weakness and distress,
Rock of strength, be Thou our Stay;
In the pathless wilderness
Be our true and living Way.
 
5. Who of us death's awful road
In the coming year shall tread,
With Thy rod and staff, 0 God,
Comfort Thou his dying bed.
 
6. Keep us faithful, keep us pure,
Keep us evermore Thine own.
Help, oh, help us to endure;
Fit us for the promised crown.
 
 
Text: Ps. 59:16
Author: Henry Downton, 1841, ab. and alt.
Tune: "Culbach"
1st Published in: _Heilige Seelenlust_
Town: Breslau, 1657, ad.