Hymn
My Help and My Hope
Words: Ryan Daniel Cornett
Music: Ryan Daniel Cornett
Tune: LYDIA KATHERINE
Meter: 10.10.10.10.D.
Stanza 1
My help and my hope, beyond me yet near,
To this bruised reed come incline now Your ear;
How brief are the days You filled up for me,
Poured out like water, a drop in the sea.
Yet my voice You hear, my cry You attend,
Your fresh mercies bloom each morn without end;
What gardens of joy! What fountains of peace!
Your aid shall not fail, Your grace never cease.
Stanza 2
O Salvation, rise! My Ark on the wave
When floods of sin would sink me to the grave;
The darkness draws near, the clouds hasten night;
May my eyes feast upon Your dawning light.
If not for the Vine, felled that I be whole,
The thorn of the curse would cut through my soul;
What favor abounds! What riches supplied
From storehouses grand, by arms open wide.
Stanza 3
In once barren ground Your Spirit took root;
May this branch bow, heavy laden with fruit;
Now grafted to grow, come prune me to bear;
In Christ abiding, upheld by Your care.
To stranger and kin will I testify
Till unto the fields of Glory I fly,
That You hear and have regarded my plea;
My help and my hope, You ever will be.
About the song
A prayer for enduring mercy, salvation, spiritual fruitfulness, and faithful witness. This modern hymn tune began on, of all things, a banjo!
Themes
Scripture references
Psalm 103:15-17; Lamentations 3:22-23; Isaiah 58:11; Psalm 32:6-7; 1 Peter 3:20-21; John 15:1-5; Isaiah 35:1-2; John 15:2-5; Psalm 66:16