O Lord of life and death, we come
In sorrow to Thy throne;
Yet not be­wil­dered, blind and dumb,
Before some pow­er unknown.

The scourge is our Fa­ther’s hand;
The plague comes forth from Thee;
Oh, give us hearts to un­der­stand,
And faith Thy ways to see!

Forgive the foul ne­glect that brought
Thy chast­en­ing to our door;
The homes un­cared-for, souls un­taught,
The un­re­gard­ed poor;

The sloth­ful ease, the greed of gain,
The wast­ed years, for­give;
Purge out our sins by need­ful pain,
Then turn, and bid us live.

So shall the lives for which we plead
Be spared to praise Thee still;
And we, from fear and dan­ger freed,
Be strong to do Thy will.