Ever since I have been
Living in this world of sin,
I have had tri­als al­most ev­ery day;
Always some­thing, more or less,
To de­stroy my hap­pi­ness,
And this is how I’ve come all the way.

Refrain

I have start­ed out to find a bet­ter home,
Where the tri­als of this life can ne­ver come.
There with re­la­tives and friends,
I shall be so hap­py then,
In the pre­sence of the Lord all the time.

It was when I was young
I began to think up­on
My con­di­tion as a sin­ner un­saved;
And at once made up my mind,
While I had suf­fi­cient time,
I would bow on my knees and pray.

Refrain

When I real­ized I had
Found the Lord, I was so glad,
For I thought all my tri­als would be done;
That my way would al­ways be
One con­tin­uous ju­bi­lee,
But I found out my tri­als had just be­gun.

Refrain

Old Sa­tan tried to get
Me to live a hy­po­crite,
And to on­ly have an out­ward form;
He said time had changed the way,
And in this en­light­ened day
To do what­e’er you please is no harm.

Refrain

I tried it for a while,
Keeping up with ev­ery style,
And was try­ing to get the crown with­out the cross.
I found it would not do;
For the Word of God is true.
And un­less I live up­right I would be lost.

Refrain

Then I put the world aside,
Taking Je­sus for my guide,
I be­gan to try to walk the nar­row way.
It is te­di­ous, I ad­mit,
But I am not wea­ry yet;
I shall tra­vel on un­til the per­fect day.

Refrain