My God, Consider My Distress

Words: Isaac Watts, The Psalms of David 1719. Breathing after comfort and deliverance.

Music: Isle of Wight, from Sett of Tunes, by Simon Browne, circa 1720 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

Bedford William Wheale, 1729 (🔊 pdf nwc)
Windsor Christopher Tye, 1533. Arranged in Booke of Musicke, by William Daman, 1591 (🔊 pdf nwc)
York melody from the Scottish Psalter, 1650, harmony from J. Milton (?–1647) (🔊 pdf nwc)

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

My God, consider my distress,
Let mercy plead my cause;
Though I have sinned against Thy grace,
I can’t forget Thy laws.

Forbid, forbid the sharp reproach
Which I so justly fear;
Uphold my life, uphold my hopes,
Nor let my shame appear.

Be Thou a surety, Lord, for me,
Nor let the proud oppress;
But make Thy waiting servant see
The shinings of Thy face.

My eyes with expectation fail,
My heart within me cries,
When will the Lord His truth fulfill,
And make my comforts rise?

Look down upon my sorrows, Lord,
And show Thy grace the same
As Thou art ever wont t’afford
To those that love Thy name.

Scripture Verse