To Thine eter­nal arms, O God,
Take us, Thine err­ing child­ren, in;
From dan­ger­ous paths too bold­ly trod,
From wan­der­ing thoughts and dreams of sin.

Those arms were round our child­hood’s ways,
A guard through help­less years to be;
O leave not our ma­tur­er days!
We still are help­less without Thee.

We trust­ed hope and pride and strength;
Our strength proved false, our pride was vain;
Our dreams have fad­ed all at length—
We come to Thee, O Lord, again!

A guide to trem­bling steps yet be!
Give us of Thine eter­nal pow­er!
So shall our paths all lead to Thee,
And life still smile, like child­hood’s hour.