1 JESUS, my Master and my Lord,
I would thy will obey,
Humbly receive thy warning word,
And always watch and pray.
My constant need of watchful prayer
I daily see and feel,
To keep me safe from every snare
Of sin, and earth, and hell.
2 Into a world of ruffians sent,
I walk on hostile ground,
Wild human bears on slaughter bent,
And ravening wolves, surround:
The lion seeks my soul to slay
In some unguarded hour,
And waits to tear his sleeping prey,
And watches to devour.
3 But worse than all my foes I find
The enemy within,
The evil heart, the carnal mind,
My own insidious sin:
My nature every moment waits
To render me secure,
And all my paths with ease besets,
To make my ruin sure.
4 But thou hast given a loud alarm;
And thou shalt still prepare
My soul for all assaults, and arm
With never-ceasing prayer;
O do not suffer me to sleep,
Who on thy love depend;
But still thy faithful servant keep,
And save me to the end!