Verse 1
Full oft have I besought Thee, Lord,
To take this thorn away,
And still against my foe abhor’d
In agony I pray;
Verse 2
Rebuking the malicious fiend,
O bid his buffets cease,
The painful hour of darkness end,
And give me back my peace.
Verse 3
Again I ask, this torturing ill
Command it to depart;
I ask in vain: for yet I feel
The mischief in my heart.
Verse 4
Thou dost not yet the plague remove,
But stayst thyself with me,
Thy all-sufficient grace to prove
In my infirmity.
Verse 5
In wisest love Thou dost delay
To answer my request,
That, while I for deliverance stay,
Thy power on me may rest:
Verse 6
While kept I every moment find
Thy arms my sure defence,
And glory in my weakness join’d
To thy Omnipotence.