Coram Deo
J1

O Lord, Turn Not Thy Face Away

John Marckant, 1561: recast by Bishop Reginald Heber, publ. 1827· Reformation

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Verse 1

O Lord, turn not Thy face away
From them that lowly lie,
Lamenting sore their sinful life
With tears and bitter cry.

Verse 2

Thy mercy-gates are open wide
To them that mourn their sin;
O shut them not against us, Lord,
But let us enter in.

Verse 3

We need not to confess our fault,
For surely Thou canst tell;
What we have done, and what we are,
Thou knowest very well.

Verse 4

Wherefore, to beg and to entreat,
With tears we come to Thee,
As children that have done amiss
Fall at their father’s knee.

Verse 5

And need we, then, O Lord, repeat
The blessing which we crave,
When Thou dost know, before we speak,
The thing that we would have?

Verse 6

Mercy, O Lord, mercy we seek,
This is the total sum;
For mercy, Lord, is all our prayer;
O let Thy mercy come.