Bow down, O Lord, Thy gracious ear

Verse 1
Bow down, O Lord, thy gracious Ear,
Thy poor and needy Servant hear;
My Soul is all Thine own:
Preserve me, O my GOD, and save,
Faith in thy mighty Power I have,
I trust in Thee alone.

Verse 2
The Reconciling Word apply,
For Mercy, Lord, I daily cry,
And raise my Soul to Heaven,
Shew me the Brightness of thy Face,
Gladden my Heart by pardning Grace
And speak my Sins forgiven.

Verse 3
Thou still art ready to forgive,
Who sue to Thee for Life shall live,
Who seek thy Grace shall find;
Thy Grace doth more than Sin abound,
With Thee is plenteous Pardon found
For me and all Mankind.

Verse 4
Now, Saviour, now accept my Prayer,
While sore opprest with guilty Care
In this my evil Day
I call for Help on Thee alone;
Thou wilt regard my humble Moan,
And hear me when I pray.

Verse 5
Among the Gods there’s none like Thee,
The Glories of the Deity
Thro’ all Creation shine;
Who then to vie with Thee shall dare,
Thy Works are all beyond compare,
And speak thy Hand Divine.

Verse 6
The Nations Thou hast made shall all
Approach with humble Fear, and fall
Prostrate before thy Face,
Thee every Tongue shall soon proclaim
And glorify the Saviour’s Name
Saviour of all their Race.

Verse 7
For Thou in Power, and Love art great
Inthron’d in Everlasting State;
The Works which Thou hast done,
What Angel-Tongue can fully tell?
Thy every Act is Miracle,
And Thou art GOD alone.

Verse 8
Teach me, O Lord, thy perfect Way,
My simple Heart shall then obey,
With filial Fear adore,
Then all my Heart thy Name shall bless,
And praise, and sing, and never cease,
And love Thee evermore.

Verse 9
For O! thy Love to me is great,
Thou hast redeem’d me from the Pit
Of Hellish Misery,
From all who sought my Soul t’ oppress,
Human, and Devilish Enemies
Thy Love hath set me free.

Verse 10
Thou, Lord, a GOD of Mercy art,
Meer Mercy fills thy tender Heart,
And meek long-suffering Grace;
Plenteous in Truth, and pardning Love,
Thy Bowels of Compassion move
To all the Fallen Race.

Verse 11
Turn then to me, thy Mercy shew,
My Soul with Strength Divine endue,
Thy Image, Lord, restore,
In me thy Servant, and thy Son
Make all thy great Salvation known,
And bid me sin no more.

Verse 12
Some Pledge of Good bestow on me,
That all my Foes with Shame may see
The Lord is on my Part:
My Help, and Comfort in Distress,
Who gave me this sure Pledge of Peace,
Shall make me pure in Heart.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled: “Psalm 86.” This hymn was appears in the mid-to-late-1740s manuscript “MS Fish.” This manuscript is part of the collection of the Methodist Archive and Research Centre in The John Rylands Library, The University of Manchester (accession number MA 1977/566, Charles Wesley Notebooks Box 2). Accessed through the website of The Center for Studies in the Wesleyan Tradition, Duke Divinity School. Introduced in Versions and Paraphrases of Select Psalms. Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 8 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 169.
Publishing: Public Domain