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Description: First published in Babcock's The Middlesex Harmony, 1803, p. 102. Words by Philip Doddridge, 1755, in four stanzas. Babcock used the first two stanzas of Doddridge's hymn in his composition.
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Original text and translations
English text
1. Indulgent God! with pitying eye
The sons of men survey.
And see how youthful sinners sport
In a destructive way!
2. Ten thousand dangers lurk around,
To bear them to the tomb:
Each in an hour may plunge them down
Where hope can never come.
3. Reduce, O Lord, their wandering minds,
Amused with airy dreams,
That heavenly wisdom may dispel
Their visionary schemes.
4. With holy caution may they walk,
And be thy word their guide;
Till each, the desert safely passed,
On Zion's hill abide.
Philip Doddridge, 1755 Regard to scripture pressed upon young persons, that they may cleanse their way. Psalm 119:9
1. Indulgent God, with pitying eye
The sons or men survey,
And see how youthful sinners sport
In a destructive way.
2. In pleasure's flowery path they tread
On future years presume;
Although ten thousand snares are spread
To snatch them to the tomb.
3. Reduce, O Lord, their wandering mind
Amused with airy dreams,
That heavenly wisdom may dispel
Their visionary schemes.
4. With holy caution may they walk
And make thy word their guide;
Till each, the danger safely past
On Zion's hill abide.
Jeremy Belknap, 1795 The danger attending youth
1. Indulgent God! with pitying eyes
The sons of men survey.
Alas! how thoughtless mortals sport
In sin's destructive way!
2. Ten thousand dangers lurk around,
To bear them to the tomb:
Each passing hour may place them where,
Repentance cannot come.
3. Reclaim, O Lord! their wand'ring minds,
Amused with airy dreams;
That heavenly wisdom may dispel
Their visionary schemes.
4. Guide and direct them by word,
Their dangerous state to see;
That they may seek and find the path,
That leads to heaven and thee.
Collection of Hymns, Evangelical Lutheran Church, 1845