Gracious God, Eternal Father
By H.A. Tuckett
Gracious God, Eternal Father,
Framer of the worlds above,
In the name of our Redeemer,
We approach thee, God of love.
Hear! o hear our heart-felt breathing
While we supplicate to thee,
This rich blessing grant thy children,
Let us thy salvation see.
Contrite now we bow before Thee,
Lend to us a willing ear,
From each sin and sorrow free us
Every doubt and ev’ry fear.
Give us faith and strength to follow
Ev’ry precept to us shown;
When our life’s well-spent and ended,
Let us then be called thine own.
Lead and guide our feeble footsteps
Through our journey day by day;
Let thy smile and approbation
Cheer and urge us on our way.
When we rise redeemed, immortal,
Having conquered ev’ry sin,
When we stand at heaven’s portal,
Crown and bid us enter in.
(1888)
I like it! Was this ever set to music and sung as a hymn?
I don’t know — will have to leave that to commenters chiming in. It does “sound” like a hymn, doesn’t it?
It’s a standard 8-7-8-7D, so it could be sung to the tune of “Brightly Beams Our Father’s Mercy,” “O My Father,” “In Humility, Our Savior,” or a number of other hymns.
The tune for “In Humility, Our Savior” was the first one that came to mind for me. That or, “Come thou Fount of Every Blessing.”
I thought of ” O thou kind and gracious Father.”