378LM
WITH broken heart and contrite sigh,
   A trembling sinner, Lord, I cry;
Thy pardoning grace is rich and free;
O God! be merciful to me.
 
2  I smite upon my troubled breast,
With deep and conscious guilt oppressed:
Christ and His Cross my only plea;
O God! be merciful to me.
 
3  Far off I stand with tearful eyes,
Nor dare uplift them to the skies;
But Thou dost all my anguish see;
O God! be merciful to me.
 
4  Nor alms, nor deeds that I have done,
Can for a single sin atone;
To Calvary alone I flee;
O God! be merciful to me.
 
5  And when, redeemed from sin and hell,
With all the ransomed throng I dwell,
My raptured song shall ever be,
God has been merciful to me.
 
Cornelius Elven, 1797-1873