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Hymn score of: O that my soul might never lack - Longing (Carl Johann Philipp Spitta/Richard Massie/Johannes Thomas Rüegg)

Christ My Song - 1468

O that my soul might never lack - Longing
(Carl Johann Philipp Spitta/Richard Massie/
Johannes Thomas Rüegg)

Longing.

1. O that my soul might never lack
  the guidance of thy gentle hand,
but follow in the easy track
  of thy sweet will and wise command!
    That I might find the Lord's employ,
    not a hard service but a joy! PDF - Midi

2. O that each word of thine I thought
  deserving of my high esteem,
and all opposed to it as naught
  but falsehood and an idle dream!
    That my sole aim in all might be,
    to do, dear Lord, what pleases thee!

3. O that I made thy word a light,
  my standard and my last appeal,
to shew me what is wrong or right,
  what hurtful, what for my true weal,
    not ever doubtful what I would,
    when I know plainly what I should!

4. O that to every word I paid
  a due observance and regard,
nor sought thy precepts to evade
  when clear, because they seem too hard,
    and that, albeit weak and faint,
    I followed them without complaint!

5. Then life were one consistent whole,
  not a mixed web of ill and good,
the full surrender of the soul,
  a victory over flesh and blood;
    then should I find, made glad and free,
    thy service perfect liberty.

6. O make thy precepts sweet to me
  by thy good Spirit's gentle sway,
and let my feet be led by thee
  in thine own true and perfect way;
    thy precepts are my life's true bliss,
    at once its rule and happiness.

7. With all thy law's exact demands
    O make me by thy grace content,
that I may do what it commands,
  not from the fear of punishment,
    no, but because my heart relies
    upon thy grace and sacrifice.

Richard Massie, Lyra Domestica I, 1863, 113-114.
Translated from the German O dass mein Leben deine Rechte - Sehnsucht
of Carl Johann Philipp Spitta.

            PDF - Midi