Scripture Verse

My days are like a shadow that declineth. Psalm 102:11

Introduction

portrait
Horatius Bonar (1808–1889)

Words: Ho­ra­ti­us Bo­nar, 1842. Bo­nar wrote these words while su­per­in­ten­dent of the Sun­day school at the Church of St. James, Leith. It was one of the first hymns he wrote, and the on­ly one he com­posed spe­ci­fic­al­ly for his Sun­day school stu­dents.

It was sung for the first time on New Year’s Day, 1843. Bo­nar pub­lished it in his Songs for the Wil­der­ness the fol­low­ing year.

Music: Le­o­min­ster George W. Mar­tin, 1862 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Mar­tin (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

A few more years shall roll,
A few more sea­sons come,
And we shall be with those that rest
Asleep with­in the tomb;
Then, O my Lord, pre­pare
My soul for that great day.

Refrain

O wash me in Thy pre­cious blood,
And take my sins away.

A few more suns shall set
O’er these dark hills of time,
And we shall be where suns are not
A far se­ren­er clime:
Then, O my Lord, pre­pare
My soul for that blest day.

Refrain

A few more storms shall beat
On this wild roc­ky shore,
And we shall be where tem­pests cease,
And surg­es swell no more;
Then, O my Lord, pre­pare
My soul for that calm day.

Refrain

A few more strug­gles here,
A few more part­ings o’er,
A few more toils, a few more tears,
And we shall weep no more:
Then, O my Lord, pre­pare
My soul for that bright day.

Refrain

A few more Sab­baths here
Shall cheer us on our way,
And we shall reach the end­less rest,
Th’eter­nal Sab­bath day;
Then, O my Lord, pre­pare
My soul for that sweet day.

Refrain

’Tis but a lit­tle while,
And He shall come again
Who died that we might live, who lives
That we with Him may reign;
Then, O my Lord, pre­pare
My soul for that glad day.

Refrain