Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am.
Psalm 39:4
Words: From The Psalter (Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania: United Presbyterian Board of Publication, 1912), number 107.
Music: Greenwood (Sweetser) Joseph E. Sweetser, A Collection of Church Music (New York: John Wiley, 1849), number 161 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good picture of Sweetser (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
My end, Lord, make me know,
My days, how soon they fail;
And to my thoughtful spirit show
How weak I am and frail.
To Thy eternal thought
My days are but a span;
To Thee my years appear as naught,
A breath at best is man.
O Lord, regard my fears,
And answer my request;
Turn not in silence from my tears,
But give the mourner rest.
I am a stranger here,
Dependent on Thy grace,
A pilgrim, as my fathers were,
With no abiding place.