Kind and Merciful God

I'll be gone with my man over the weekend visiting some friends, so I thought that I'd post the hymn for this next Lord's Day early...

This is a favorite of mine that we sing in church sometimes. I like the melody that we sing it to, lovely but with a minor touch that makes it poignant. Since I can’t post the melody, you’ll just have to imagine if you don’t know it.

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Kind and Merciful God

Kind and merciful God,
We have sinned in Your sight,
We have all wandered far from Your way;
We have followed desire,
We have failed to aspire
To the virtue we ought to display.

Kind and merciful God,
We’ve neglected Your Word
And the truth that would guide us aright;
We have lived in the shade
Of the dark we have made,
When You willed us to walk in the light.

Kind and merciful God,
We have broken Your laws
And in conduct have veered from the norm;
We have dreamed of the good,
But the good that we could
We have frequently failed to perform.

Kind and merciful God,
In Christ’s death on the cross
You provided a cleansing from sin;
Speak the words that forgive,
That henceforth we may live
By the might of your Spirit within.

Kind and merciful God,
Bid us lift up our heads
And command us to rise from our knees;
May our hearts now be changed
And no longer estranged,
Through the power of your pardon and peace.

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Words: Bryan Jeffery Leech, 1973
Music: Traditional Swedish Melody; adapt. Bryan Jeffery Leech, 1973
ELFAKER 12.9.12.9