So oft preserved in perils past

Verse 1
So oft preserv’d in perils past,
Why should I despond at last,
And cast my faith away?
I cannot help this abject fear,
For still the hellish Saul is near
My hunted soul to slay.

Verse 2
Thou seest my feebleness of heart;
Do not, do not, Lord, depart
In life’s extremity,
But stand another hour between,
Another hour my weakness skreen,
And take my soul to thee.

Hymnal/Album: Originally titled “David said in his heart, I shall now perish one day, by the hand of Saul.”—[I. Sam.] xxvii. 1. Introduced in Charles Wesley, Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy Scriptures, Vol. 1 (Bristol: Farley, 1762). Published in The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, Collected and Arranged by G. Osborn, Vol. 9 (London: Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, 1870), page 162.
Publishing: Public Domain