Words: , Hymns for the Young, second series, 1844; the words below are from “O Lord, We Come Before Thee Now,” beginning with the third stanza.
Music: Manchester New, , 1774.
The earth, O Lord, is one wide field
Of all Thy chosen seed;
The crop prepared its fruit to yield;
The laborers are few indeed.
We therefore come before Thee now
With fasting, and with prayer,
Beseeching of Thy love that Thou
Wouldst send more laborers there.
Not for our land alone we pray,
Though that above the rest;
The realms and islands far away,
O let them all be blest.
Endue the bishops of Thy flock
With wisdom and with grace,
Against false doctrine, like a rock,
To set the heart and face.
To all Thy priests Thy truth reveal,
And make Thy judgments clear;
Make Thou Thy deacons full of zeal,
And humble, and sincere.
And give their flocks a lowly mind
To hear and to obey;
That each and all may mercy find
At Thine appearing day.