Isaac was ransom'd when he lay

Upon the altar bound;

Moses, an infant cast away,

Pharaoh's own daughter found.

Joseph, by his false brethren sold,

God raised above them all;

To Hannah's child, the Lord foretold,

How Eli's house must fall.

David the bear and lion slew

And o'er Gath's champion trod;

Josiah, from his boyhood, knew

His father David's God.

To good Naomi gentle Ruth

Clave with a daughter's soul;

A little maid reveal'd the truth,

Whence Naaman was made whole.

Children are thus Jehovah's care;

Thus youth may seek His face;

Since His own Son He did not spare,

With Him He gives all grace:

Grace, like the young of whom we read,

Early in Him to trust;

A Friend in need, a Friend indeed,

As merciful as just.

Lord, while like them our course we read,

Be Thou to us that Friend,

And in the footsteps of Thy Son,

Conduct us to the end.