The Sinner — Christ the Way of Life

Thou Saviour of the sin-sick soul

No. 377
Metre C. M.
Tune HOLY CROSS.
Words F. E. Belden.
Music Felix Mendelssohn-Bartholdy.
Key B-flat major
Singing key B♭ major
Time 3/4
6 stanzas

Words

Thou Saviour of the sin-sick soul,Thou Refuge in distress,When doubt's dark billows near me roll,Close to thy side I press.

The burdened heart must seek in vainFor merit of its own;There 's freedom from each crimson stainIn thee, and thee alone.

Let him who feels his load of guiltStrive not its weight to bear;The hopes that man on self has builtAre doomed to dark despair.

But thou, O Christ, whose blood was shedFor all who plead its power,Wilt lift the load that bows the headIn deep contrition's hour!

Thy tender heart has felt the weightOf sins that were not thine,And lo! within that burden greatI view these sins of mine.

'T is faith that points them out to meWhen, fainting 'neath the load,I turn my longing eyes to thee,Far up the narrow road.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «THE SINNER—CHRIST THE WAY OF LIFE.»; hymn number «377» (large), tune name «HOLY CROSS. C. M.» centred over the music (condensed capitals and small capitals), «FELIX MENDELSSOHN-BARTHOLDY.» at the right (capitals and small capitals). Stanza 1 is interlinear, between the staves, one line per system, with «1.» before «Thou»: «Sav - iour», «sin - sick», «Ref - uge», «dis - tress,», «bil - lows» with spaced hyphens; «sin-sick» is written here with its hyphen (the compound of the print). Stanzas 2–6 are printed as text in the left column below the music, under the reference line «179, 395, 581.» in italics (= may also be sung to the tunes of hymns 179, 395 or 581), with the stanza numbers printed without a full stop («2 The»), numbered «2.» here like stanza 1. «F. E. Belden.» in italics after stanza 6. The print sets a thin space before «;» and «!» («own ;», «bear ;», «hour !», «lo !»); it is closed up here. «There 's» (stanza 2) and «'T is» (stanza 6) keep the print's space; the printer's curly apostrophes are written straight («doubt's», «contrition's», «'neath»). Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's. Lines 2 and 4 of each stanza are indented in the print.