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O let me, heavenly Lord, extend
My view to life’s approaching end!
What are my days?—a span their line —
And what my age, compared with thine?
Our life advancing to a close,
While yet its earliest dawn it knows,
Swift through an empty shade we run,
And vanity and man are one.
O how thy chastisements impair
The human form, however fair!
How frail the strongest frame we see,
If thou its mortal doom decree!
As when the fretting moths consume
The labour of the curious loom,
The texture fails, the dyes decay,
And all its lustre fades away.
God of our fathers! here as they
We walk, the pilgrims of a day:
As transient guests, thy works admire,
And instant to our home retire.
Spare me a little while, O spare!
And nature’s failing strength repair:
Ere life’s short circuit wandered o’er,
I perish, and am seen no more.
---Alternative verses---
Our life advancing to a close,
While scarce its earliest dawn it knows,
Swift through an empty shade we run,
And vanity and man are one.
God of our fathers! here as they
I walk, the pilgrim of a day:
A transient guest, thy works admire,
And instant to my home retire.
O spare me Lord, awhile, O spare!
And nature’s failing strength repair:
Ere life’s short circuit wandered o’er,
I perish, and am seen no more.
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marker 99
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LYRICS
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Meter:
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8 8 8 8 (L.M.)
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Writer(s):
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Trans/Adapted:
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Dates:
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Bible Refs:
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Ps 39;
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LIST OF LYRIC SOURCES
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Hymn/Song Book
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Year
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Song #
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| 1851 | # 437 |
echo ' | ';
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Hymn Writer
