Approach My Soul the Mercy Seat

Approach, My Soul, the Mercy Seat
mp3 | leadsheet

I’ve been spending a lot of time recently reading through a reprint of John Newton’s Olney hymns.  This is a beautiful text from Book II under the heading “Seeking, pleading, and hoping.”  Hymn XII. The effort — in another Measure.

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Approach, my soul, the mercy seat,
Where Jesus answers prayer;
There humbly fall before his feet,
For none can perish there.

Refrain 1:

O wondrous love! to bleed and die,
O wondrous love! For such as I.
.

Thy promise is my only plea,
With this I venture nigh;
Thou callest burdened souls to thee,
And such, O Lord, am I.

Bowed down beneath a load of sin,
By Satan sorely pressed,
By wars without, and fears within,
I come to thee for rest.

Be thou my shield and hiding place,
That, sheltered near thy side,
I may my fierce accuser face,
And tell him, Thou hast died.

“Poor tempest tossed soul, be still;
My promised grace receive;”
‘Tis Jesus speaks—I must, I will,
I can, I do believe.

Refrain 2:

O wondrous love! to bleed and die,
To bear the cross and shame,
That guilty sinners, such as I,
Might plead thy gracious name!

—

Words: John Newton,
The Southern Harmony, 1835 ed.

Music: Bruce Benedict, February 2010