Today’s hymn comes from Frances R. Havergal (1836-1879), daughter of a minister. Frances was affectionately devoted to both her family and her church. She loved her middle name, Ridley, that of the martyr Nicholas Ridley. The effect of her steady meditation on Scripture was that biblical ideas and phrases would come naturally to her speech and to her pen, when writing these poems that were later used as hymns, one being the popular ‘Take My Life and Let It Be”¹. Enjoy this one!

I bring my sins to thee,
The sins I cannot count,
That I may cleansed be
In thy once opened fount.
I bring them, Saviour, all to thee;
The burden is too great for me.

My heart to thee I bring,
The heart I cannot read;
A faithless, wandering thing,
An evil heart indeed.
I bring it, Saviour, now to thee
That fixed and faithful it may be.

To thee I bring my care,
The care I cannot flee;
Thou wilt not only share,
But bear it all for me.
O loving Saviour, now to thee
I bring the load that wearies me.

I bring my grief to thee,
The grief I cannot tell;
No words shall needed be,
Thou knowest all so well.
I bring the sorrow laid on me,
O suffering Saviour, now to thee.

My joys to thee I bring,
The joys thy love has given,
That each may be a wing
To lift me nearer Heaven.
I bring them, Saviour, all to thee;
For thou hast purchased all for me.

My life I bring to thee,
I would not be my own;
O Saviour, let me be
Thine ever, thine alone.
My heart, my life, my all I bring
To thee, my Saviour and my King.

¹banneroftruth.org/uk/resources/articles/2005/the-life-of-francis-ridley-havergal-1836-1879/