Pleading for Acceptance. (1114)
When thou, my righteous Judge, shalt come,
To take thy ransomed people home,
Shall I among them stand?
Shall such a worthless worm as I,
Who sometimes am afraid to die,
Be found at thy right hand?
2 I love to meet thy people now,
Before thy feet with them to bow,
Though vilest of them all;
But -- can I bear the piercing thought? --
What if my name should be left out,
When thou for them shalt call?
3 O Lord, prevent it by thy grace;
Be thou my only hiding-place,
In this th' accepted day;
Thy pardoning voice, oh, let me hear,
To still my unbelieving fear,
Nor let me fall, I pray.
4 And when the final trump shall sound,
Among thy saints let me be found,
To bow before thy face;
Then in triumphant strains I'll sing,
While heaven's resounding mansions ring
With praise of sovereign grace.
Mrs. Selina Shirley, 1772