PSALM 51:1-17
METER: LM (88 88)
SUGGESTED TUNES: CANONBURY, HAMBURG, or MARYTON
Hymns of this meter include "Lord, Speak to Me," "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," and "O Master, Let Me Walk with Thee"
1. Be mer-ci-ful to me, O God,
Ac-cord-ing to your stead-fast love;
Ac-cord-ing to your mer-cy great
Wipe my trans-gres-sions all a-way.
2. Wash me com-plete-ly of my sin;
Cleanse me of my in-i-qui-ty.
For I know my trans-gres-sions, and
I'm al-ways con-scious of my sins.
3. A-gainst you on-ly have I sinned,
And done what you con-sid-er wrong.
So you are right in judg-ing me,
And blame-less in con-demn-ing me.
4. I've been a sin-ner since my birth,
Yes, since the day I was con-ceived.
You want sin-cer-i-ty and truth,
So teach me wis-dom in my heart.
5. Purge me with hys-sop, make me clean;
Wash me, make me more pure than snow.
With joy and glad-ness fill my heart,
Let all the bones you broke re-joice.
6. Don't look upon all of my sins
But wipe out all the wrong I've done.
Cre-ate in me a clean heart, God,
A new, right spir-it give to me.
7. From be-fore you don't ban-ish me;
Take not your spir-it out of me.
Re-store to me sal-va-tion's joy;
Give me the will to o-bey you.
8. Then sin-ners I will teach your ways,
And they will be re-turned to you.
Save me, O God, from dead-ly guilt,
And your sal-va-tion I will sing.
9. Lord, help me to o-pen my lips,
And I will praise you with my mouth.
You don't de-light in sac-ri-fice,
Burnt of-fer-ings do not please you.
10. O God, the sac-ri-fice you want
Is the gift of a bro-ken will.
A bro-ken and a con-trite heart,
O Lord, you nev-er will de-spise.
Stanzas 1-7 reprinted by permission of the publisher from Sing the Psalms! by Dale A. Schoening. Copyright 1988 Dale A. Schoening. Alt. 2000, 2006 Dale A. Schoening. Stanzas 8-10 reprinted by permission of the publisher from Supplementary Volume to Sing the Psalms by Dale A. Schoening. Copyright 1992 Dale A. Schoening.
