O for a closer walk with God
A calm and heavenly frame,
A light to shine upon the road
That leads me to the Lamb!

William Cowper wrote this text on December 9, 1769, during the illness of his long-time friend and housekeeper, Mrs. Unwin. In a letter written the next day Cowper voiced his anxieties about her condition and about what might happen to him if she died. Saying that he composed the text "to surrender up to the Lord" all his "dearest comforts," Cowper added,

"Her illness has been a sharp trial to me. Oh, that it may have a sanctifying effect!. . . I began to compose the verses yesterday morning before daybreak, but fell asleep at the end of the first two lines; when I awoke again, the third and fourth were whispered to my heart in a way which I have often experienced."

When I am tired and when I am down, the Lord shall lift me up and hold me strong, even as He takes away my dearest comforts. || posted by Kuan Hui