Oh More Than Merciful

Oh more than merciful! whose bounty gave

Author: Reginald Heber
Tune: YORKSHIRE
Published in 1 hymnal

Printable scores: PDF, Noteworthy Composer
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 Oh more than mer­ci­ful! whose boun­ty gave
Thy guilt­less self to glut the greedy grave!
Whose heart was rent to pay Thy peo­ple’s price;
The great high priest at once and sac­ri­fice!
Help, Sav­ior, by Thy cross and crim­son stain,
Nor let Thy glo­ri­ous blood be spilt in vain!

2 When sin with flow­ery gar­land hides her dart,
When ty­rant force would daunt the sink­ing heart,
When flesh­ly lust as­sails, or world­ly care,
Or the soul flut­ters in the fowl­er’s snare—
Help, Sav­ior, by Thy cross and crim­son stain,
Nor let Thy glo­ri­ous blood be spilt in vain!

3 And, chief­est then, when na­ture yields the strife,
And mor­tal dark­ness wraps the gate of life;
When the poor spi­rit, from the tomb set free,
Sinks at Thy feet and lifts its hope to Thee—
Help, Sav­ior, by Thy cross and crim­son stain,
Nor let Thy glo­ri­ous blood be spilt in vain!

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #10961

Author: Reginald Heber

Reginald Heber was born in 1783 into a wealthy, educated family. He was a bright youth, translating a Latin classic into English verse by the time he was seven, entering Oxford at 17, and winning two awards for his poetry during his time there. After his graduation he became rector of his father's church in the village of Hodnet near Shrewsbury in the west of England where he remained for 16 years. He was appointed Bishop of Calcutta in 1823 and worked tirelessly for three years until the weather and travel took its toll on his health and he died of a stroke. Most of his 57 hymns, which include "Holy, Holy, Holy," are still in use today. -- Greg Scheer, 1995… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Oh more than merciful! whose bounty gave
Title: Oh More Than Merciful
Author: Reginald Heber
Meter: 10.10.10.10.10.10
Source: Published posthumously in Hymns Written and Adapted to the Weekly Church Service of the Year (London: J. Murray, 1827)
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

YORKSHIRE

John Wainwright (b. Stockport, England, 1723; d. Stockport, 1768) wrote YORKSHIRE for [the] text [Christian's awake, salute the happy morn, by John Byrom] in 1750. The tune was first sung on Christmas Day, 1750, in the parish church of Stockport; it was first published in Caleb Ashworth's Collection…

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Media

The Cyber Hymnal #10961
  • PDF (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer Score (NWC)

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The Cyber Hymnal #10961

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