Brotherhood and Service 503. O God of mercy! hearken now

[1930]Hesperus:

Henry Baker, 1866

Emily Vernon Clark, 1891

O God of mercy! hearken now:

Before thy throne we humbly bow;

With heart and voice to thee we cry

For all on earth who suffering lie.

We seek thee where thou dwell'st on high,

Beyond the glittering, starry sky:

We find thee where thou dwell'st below

Beside the beds of want and woe.

Be ours the hearts and hands to bless

The sorrowing sons of wretchedness;

Send thou the help we cannot give;

Bid dying souls arise and live.

O let the healing waters spring,

Touched by thy pitying angel's wing;

With quickening power new strength impart

To palsied will, to withered heart.

Where poverty in pain must lie,

Where little suffering children cry,

Bid us haste forth as called by thee,

And in thy poor, thyself to see.

Be thou, O God eternal, blest,

Thy holy Name on earth confest!

Echo thy praise from every shore

For ever and for evermore.

Amen.