May I approach Thee with my little one?
Is it too mean to lay it at Thy feet?
Lord, Thy disciples with disdainful tone
Bade me to take away my infant sweet;
But, oh! I feel, deep in my mother’s heart,
More pitiful than they, my Lord, Thou art.
For Thou, O Lord, Thyself wast once a child,
Wrapped in Thy swaddling clothes; but even then
Thy name was JESUS, holy, undefiled;
And Thou didst enter, like us sinful men,
A helpless infant on this world of woe;
Was it not, Lord, Thy grace for babes to show?
I ask no worldly portion for my child;
I seek not of Thee gold or rank or fame;
Save it from sin; from human passions wild;
An interest in Thy love is all I claim;
Lord, make it Thine — Thine only — is my plea,
To love and serve and live alone for Thee.