Lord from the Depths to Thee I Cry'd / Lord Jesus I Belong to Thee

This is a hymn from a place of despair, based on Psalm 129/130. which is known as "De profundis", based on the opening words of Psalm 129 in the Latin (Vulgate) edition of the Bible.

This translation was published in the Scottish Psalter 1650. A modern-English adaptation "Lord from the Depths I Cry to You" has also been made and was published in the Australian Hymn Book, 1977.

The author / translator is unknown.

With meter 8.6.8.6, tunes it is set to include:

COLESHILL, composer unknown from Barton's Psalms, 1706
MARTYRDOM (Wilson) - an eighteenth-century Scottish folk melody used for the ballad "Helen of Kirkconnel", adapted as a hymn by Hugh Wilson (1766c-1824) in 1800, and set in triple-meter by Robert A. Smith (1780-1829) in 1825.
SONG 67 (Gibbons) by Orlando Gibbons (1623)
ST MARY, composer unknown, from Edmund Prys's Welsh Llyfr y Psalmau (1621).

Downloads

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PowerPoint slides
original words

PowerPoint slides
adapted words

Downloadable piano solo, MARTYRDOM

Downloadable easy piano arrangement of SONG 67 (Gibbons)

Examples

Congregation with organ, tune MARTYRDOM (Wilson):

Congregation, unaccomapnied:

Instrumenta, piano, tune SONG 67

Instrumental - possibly a reed-organ, tune

Lyrics

Traditional language

Lord, from the depths to thee I cry’d.

My voice, Lord, do thou hear:

Unto my supplication’s voice

give an attentive ear.

Lord, who shall stand, if thou, O Lord,

should’st mark iniquity?

But yet with thee forgiveness is,

that fear’d thou mayest be.

I wait for God, my soul doth wait,

my hope is in his word.

More than they that for morning watch,

my soul waits for the Lord;

I say, more than they that do watch

the morning light to see.

Let Israel hope in the Lord,

for with him mercies be;

And plenteous redemption

is ever found with him.

And from all his iniquities

he Isr’el shall redeem.

Modern English

Lord, from the depths I cry to you,
my supplication hear;
Lord, I your patient servant plead
for your attentive care.

If you, Lord, keep account of sin,
who could hold up his head?
But in you is forgiving love,
therefore you are revered.

I wait for God with eager eyes,
my hope is in his word;
more than the watchmen wait for dawn
my soul waits for the Lord.

Let Israel hope still in the Lord,
in him is constant love;
for he his servant will redeem
and all his sin remove.