1. I know, O God, I need Thy watch­ful care,
Thou call­est me when from Thy path I wan­der;
Thou chide­st me, Thy rod Thou dost not spare,
Thy mig­hty hand is reach­ing me from yon­der.

2. I know Thou smit­est not to do me harm,
Thou lov­est me when sin­ful ways Thou break­est;
I know Thy love for me is rich and warm,
Yea, warm­est when Thou me most strong­ly shak­est.

3. And yet each time Thy hand up­on me lies,
When I in sin have left Thy call un­heed­ed,
My heart breaks out in loud and bit­ter cries,
I think Thou smit­est more than it is need­ed.

4. How oft my pray­er: "O God, Thy will be done!"
Has un­to Thee in con­fi­dence as­cend­ed;
But when Thy will against mine own has gone,
I knew it was my own that I in­tend­ed.

5. I waver, then, but know that Thou art right,
Thy guid­ing hand Thy wil­ful child is train­ing;
Thy yoke is ea­sy, and Thy bur­den light,
I know I have no rea­son for com­plain­ing.

6. Teach me, O God, to will but what Thou wilt,
And check Thou me when oft mine own I’m seek­ing;
Chastise Thou me, but take away my guilt,
And give me grace to hear when Thou art speak­ing.