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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 371

How Sad Our State by Nature Is

Words: Isaac Watts8s, 6s, & 4s

Studio

1How sad our state by nature is!
Our sin—how deep it stains!
And Satan binds our captive minds
Fast in his slavish chains.

2But there's a voice of sovereign grace
Sounds from the sacred word:
'Ho! ye despairing sinners, come!
And trust a pardoning Lord.'

3My soul obeys the almighty call,
And runs to this relief;
I would believe thy promise, Lord;
O help my unbelief!

4A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,
In thy kind arms I fall;
Be thou my Strength and Righteousness,
My Saviour and my All.

Scripture
Romans 3:23; Ephesians 2:1-5; Mark 9:24

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
9.7.9.6 · the hymnal prints 8s, 6s, & 4s
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 50% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABCB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

How sad our state by nature is!///˘/˘/˘˘9A
Our sin—how deep it stains!/˘///˘/7B
And Satan binds our captive minds˘/˘//˘/˘/9C
Fast in his slavish chains./˘˘/˘/6B

Verse 2

But there's a voice of sovereign grace˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
Sounds from the sacred word:/˘˘/˘/6B
'Ho! ye despairing sinners, come!//˘/˘/˘/8C
And trust a pardoning Lord.'˘/˘/˘˘/7D

Verse 3

My soul obeys the almighty call,˘/˘/˘˘/˘/9A
And runs to this relief;˘/˘˘˘/6B
I would believe thy promise, Lord;˘˘˘///˘/8C
O help my unbelief!˘/˘???6D

Verse 4

A guilty, weak, and helpless worm,˘/˘/˘/˘/8A
In thy kind arms I fall;˘///˘/6B
Be thou my Strength and Righteousness,˘/˘/˘/˘˘8C
My Saviour and my All.˘/˘˘˘˘/7B

Counted by machine from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. It cannot hear emphasis or a poet’s licence, so treat it as a place to start reading, not the last word.