A young teacher in a school in New York City, who had been a dry-goods clerk in Boston and had just graduated from Yale College (at the age of twenty-two), sat down one afternoon and wrote four verses which he said were "born of my own soul." His eyes swam with tears while he wrote. Two years afterward this young Mr. Ray Palmer was met by Lowell Mason in Boston, and asked to furnish a hymn for a new music book soon to be issued. Palmer drew out of his pocket the four verses beginning with the words,
"My faith looks up to Thee.”
He handed them to Mason for publication.
My faith looks up to Thee,
Thou Lamb of Calvary,
Savior divine.
Now hear me while I pray:
Take all my guilt away;
O, let me from this day
be wholly thine.
May Thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart,
My zeal inspire:
As Thou hast died for me,
O, may my love to Thee
Pure, warm, and changeless be—
A living fire.
While life's dark maze I tread,
And griefs around me spread,
Be Thou my Guide:
Bid darkness turn to day,
Wipe sorrow's tears away;
Nor let me ever stray
From Thee aside.
When ends life's transient dream,—
When death's cold, sullen stream
Shall o'er me roll,—
Blest Savior, then in love,
Fear and distress remove;
O, bear me safe above,
A ransomed soul.