SDA Hymnal 475
Balm in Gilead
Words: Traditional African American SpiritualMusic: Traditional African American SpiritualTune: BALM IN GILEADIrregular
1Sometimes I feel discouraged,
And think my work's in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit
Revives my soul again.
RefrainThere is a balm in Gilead
To make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead
To heal the sin-sick soul.
2If you cannot preach like Peter,
If you cannot pray like Paul,
You can tell the love of Jesus,
And say He died for all.
- Tune
- BALM IN GILEAD
- Meter
- Irregular
- Scripture
- Jeremiah 8:22; Luke 4:18; Psalm 147:3
Public Domain
The verse
- Meter
- 7.6.7.6
- Foot
- iambic (da-DUM) · 49% of beats fit
- Rhyme
- ABCD
Scan every line
/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary
Verse 1
Sometimes I feel discouraged,˘/˘/˘/˘7A
And think my work's in vain,˘/˘/˘/6B
But then the Holy Spirit˘/˘/˘/˘7C
Revives my soul again.˘/˘/˘/6D
Verse 2
If you cannot preach like Peter,˘˘/˘///˘8A
If you cannot pray like Paul,˘˘/˘///7B
You can tell the love of Jesus,˘˘/˘/˘/˘8C
And say He died for all.˘/˘/˘/6B
Refrain
There is a balm in Gilead/˘˘/˘˘/7A
To make the wounded whole;˘/˘/˘/6B
There is a balm in Gilead/˘˘/˘˘/7A
To heal the sin-sick soul.˘/˘??/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.