Encouraged by thy word

The beggar by John Newton


 * Encouraged by thy word
 * Of promise to the poor;
 * Behold, a beggar, LORD,
 * Waits at thy mercy's door!
 * No hand, no heart, O LORD, but thine,
 * Can help or pity wants like mine.


 * The beggar's usual plea
 * Relief from men to gain,
 * If offered unto thee,
 * I know thou would'st disdain:
 * And pleas which move thy gracious ear,
 * Are such as men would scorn to hear.


 * I have no right to say
 * That though I now am poor,
 * Yet once there was a day
 * When I possessed more:
 * Thou know'st that from my very birth,
 * I've been the poorest wretch on earth.


 * Nor can I dare profess,
 * As beggars often do,
 * Though great is my distress,
 * My wants have been but few:
 * If thou shouldst leave my soul to starve,
 * It would be what I well deserve.


 * 'Twere folly to pretend
 * I never begged before;
 * Or if thou now befriend,
 * I'll trouble thee no more:
 * Thou often hast relieved my pain,
 * And often I must come again.


 * Though crumbs are much too good
 * For such a dog as I;
 * No less than children's food
 * My soul can satisfy:
 * O do not frown and bid me go,
 * I must have all thou canst bestow.


 * Nor can I willing be
 * Thy bounty to conceal
 * From others, who like me,
 * Their wants and hunger feel:
 * I'll tell them of thy mercy's store,
 * And try to send a thousand more.


 * Thy thoughts, thou only wise!
 * Our thoughts and ways transcend,
 * Far as the arched skies
 * Above the earth extend:
 * Such pleas as mine men would not bear,
 * But God receives a beggar's prayer.