Christ My Song - 1301
Saviour, this is what I ask
(Thomas Kelly/Johannes Thomas Rüegg)
Saviour, this is what I ask.
"Let us have grace, whereby we may serve God acceptably." (Hebrews 12,28)
1. Saviour, this is what I ask,
cause me, Lord, to serve thee better,
not as slaves fulfill their task,
this is nothing but the "letter".
Set me from all idols free,
then thy yoke will easy be. PDF - Midi
2. Sweet the service (else not so),
when the servant loves his master.
'Tis to thee, O Lord, I owe
rescue from the great disaster,
that which fell upon our race:
mine was once a fearful case.
3. Under guilt, and under curse,
and the very slave of sin,
what was there to make it worse?
All was dark and dead within,
still without, all goodly seemed,
man approved, while God condemned.
4. From this state, if not deceived,
I may say that thou hast saved me.
Bought with blood, by grace relieved
from the power that once enslaved me;
pleasant should thy service be:
pleasant, Lord, to one like me.
5. Saviour, what I ask is this,
make it so, and so it will be,
else it will be as it is;
what I have been, I shall still be.
Lord, increase my love to thee,
make me what I ought to be.
Thomas Kelly, Hymns on various passages of Scripture, ca. 1853, Hymn 744.