Scripture Verse

I have promised to obey Your words. Psalm 119:57

Introduction

portrait
John E. Bode (1816–1874)

Words: John E. Bode, 1868, alt. Bode wrote the words for his daugh­ter’s and two sons’ con­fir­ma­tion ser­vice. At the time, Bode was a pas­tor in Castle Camps par­ish, Cam­bridge­shire, Eng­land. It was pub­lished in the ap­pendix of Psalms and Hymns of the So­cie­ty for the Pro­pa­ga­tion of Chris­tian Know­ledge, 1869.

Music: An­gel’s Story Ar­thur H. Mann, in The Me­tho­dist Sun­day School Hymn­book (Lon­don: 1881) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know where to get a bet­ter pho­to of Bode,

portrait
Arthur H. Mann (1850–1929)

Lyrics

O Je­sus, I have pro­mised
To serve Thee to the end;
Be Thou for­ev­er near me,
My mas­ter and my friend;
I shall not fear the bat­tle
If Thou art by my side,
Nor wan­der from the path­way
If Thou wilt be my guide.

O let me feel Thee near me!
The world is ev­er near;
I see the sights that daz­zle,
The tempt­ing sounds I hear;
My foes are ev­er near me,
Around me and with­in;
But Je­sus, draw Thou near­er,
And shield my soul from sin.

O let me hear Thee speak­ing
In ac­cents clear and still,
Above the storms of pas­sion,
The mur­murs of self will.
O speak to re­as­sure me,
To hast­en or con­trol;
O speak, and make me list­en,
Thou guard­ian of my soul.

O Je­sus, Thou hast pr­omised
To all who fol­low Thee
That where Thou art in glo­ry
There shall Thy ser­vant be.
And Je­sus, I have pro­mised
To serve Thee to the end;
O give me grace to fol­low,
My mas­ter and my friend.

O let me see Thy foot­prints,
And in them plant mine own;
My hope to fol­low du­ly
Is in Thy strength alone.
O guide me, call me, draw me,
Uphold me to the end;
And then in Heav’n re­ceive me,
My Sav­ior and my friend.