I have prepared with all my might.
1 Chronicles 29:2
Words: Thomas H. Gill, Golden Chain of Praise 1869 (With Sin I Would Not Make Abode).
Music: University Charles Collignon (1725–1785), in A Collection of Psalms for the Use of Parish Churches, by P. Hellendaal, page 90 (🔊 pdf nwc).
Alternate Tunes:
If you know where to get a good picture of Gill or Collignon (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
Lord, in the fullness of my might,
I would for Thee be strong:
While runneth o’er each dear delight,
To Thee should soar my song.
I would not give the world my heart,
And then profess Thy love;
I would not feel my strength depart,
And then Thy service prove.
I would not with swift wingèd zeal
On the world’s errands go,
And labor up the heav’nly hill
With weary feet and slow.
O not for Thee my weak desires,
My poorer, baser part!
O not for Thee my fading fires,
The ashes of my heart!
O choose me in my golden time:
In my clear joys have part!
For Thee the glory of my prime,
The fullness of my heart!
I cannot, Lord, too early take
The covenant divine;
O ne’er the happy heart may break
Whose earliest love was Thine!