Hymns and Tunes 1886 449
Be Merciful to Me, O God!
1Be merciful to me, O God!
Be merciful to me;
For though I sink beneath thy rod,
Yet do I trust in thee.
2That my sin should not know
My burden thou dost bear;
And I would seek, where'er I go,
To cast on thee my care.
3Thou knowest, Lord, my flesh how frail,
Strong though my spirit be;
O, then assist, when foes assail,
The soul that clings to thee!
4And, gracious Lord, whate'er befall,
A thankful heart be mine,—
A heart that answers to thy call,—
One that is wholly thine.
- Scripture
- Psalm 51
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 8.6.8.6
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 62% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABAB
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
Be merciful to me, O God!˘/˘˘˘˘˘/8A
Be merciful to me;˘/˘˘˘˘6B
For though I sink beneath thy rod,˘/˘/˘///8A
Yet do I trust in thee./˘˘/˘/6B
Verse 2
That my sin should not know˘˘/˘˘/6A
My burden thou dost bear;˘/˘///6B
And I would seek, where'er I go,˘˘˘/???˘/9A
To cast on thee my care.˘/˘/˘/6B
Verse 3
Thou knowest, Lord, my flesh how frail,//˘/˘///8A
Strong though my spirit be;//˘/˘˘6B
O, then assist, when foes assail,˘/˘///˘/8A
The soul that clings to thee!˘/˘/˘/6B
Verse 4
And, gracious Lord, whate'er befall,˘/˘/???˘/9A
A thankful heart be mine,—˘/˘/˘/6B
A heart that answers to thy call,—˘/˘/˘˘//8A
One that is wholly thine./˘˘/˘/6B
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.