A Prayer

Father, we lift the suppliant eye,
  To where thou reigns’t above;
We feel that thou canst not deny
  The children of thy love.

Unshaken faith, unwavering trust,
  Are all that we can bring;
We are thy children, though in dust,
  To thee we dare to cling.

We know that thou wilt not forsake
  The poor and trembling slave;
For him the blessed Saviour spake;
  And him he came to save.

We feel the chains that bind us all,
  And bend us to man’s will;
But can they hold our souls enthrall’d,
  Or bid our voice be still?

No:⁠—for thy power is all supreme,
  Thy word shall yet stand firm;
And master and the slave shall e’en
  To thee for mercy turn.