Verse 1
How long, how often shall I pray
Take all iniquity away, (Hosea 14:2, Ps. 51:2)
And the good things bestow?
Evil alas, I still remain,
Nor can the promis’d grace obtain,
Or my Redeemer know.
Verse 2
Yet will I, urging my request,
Pray on, pray always and not rest, (Luke 18:1, I Thess. 5:17)
And never cease to cry,
Till Thou the Spirit of faith impart,
To sprinkle, and renew my heart, (Ezek. 36:25-26, Heb. 10:22)
And wholly sanctify. (I Thess. 5:23)
Verse 3
Thy Spirit alone can root out sin, (Rom. 8:13)
Bring the celestial kingdom in,
My Lord and God reveal,
(While He is mine, and I am his) (Song of Solomon 2:16, Song of Solomon 6:3)
The earnest of eternal bliss,
The Witness, and the Seal. (Eph. 1:13, Eph. 4:30, Rom. 8:16)
Verse 4
Here then a sinner at thy feet,
Trembling I wait, my doom to meet,
Thy sovereign will to prove
Which leaves me in my sins to die,—
Or bids me live, to glorify (I Cor. 6:20)
Whom I entirely love.