Verse 1
Author of faith, we seek thy face,
For all who feel thy work begun;
Confirm, and ’stablish them in grace,
And bring thy feeblest children on.

Verse 2
Thou seest their wants, thou knowst their names:
Be mindful of thy youngest care;
Be tender of thy new-born lambs,
And gently in thy bosom bear.

Verse 3
The lion roaring for his prey,
With ravening wolves on every side;
Watch over them to tear, and slay,
If found one moment from their guide.

Verse 4
Satan his thousand arts essays,
His agents all their powers employ,
To blast the blooming work of grace,
The heavenly offspring to destroy.

Verse 5
Baffle the crooked serpent’s skill,
And turn his sharpest dart aside;
Hide from their eyes the devilish ill,
O save them from the plague of pride.

Verse 6
The dreaming, visionary fiend
Unmask, and drag to open light,
And let his wild illusions end,
And chase him to eternal night.

Verse 7
In safety lead thy little flock,
From hell, the world, and sin secure;
And set their feet upon the Rock,
And make in thee their goings sure.

Verse 8
From idol-loves, and vain desires
O God, thy little children keep,
And fill their hearts with holy fires,
And lull them in thy arms to sleep.

Verse 9
There let them lie secure, and take
Their rest, and never thence remove,
’Till in thy likeness they awake,
The glorious likeness of thy love.