We have every reason to pray. We are fragile and have great needs. God is great and does wondrous things (Psalm 40:10). We are burdened and weighed down by sin. God is “is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in mercy” (Psalm 103:8). We are troubled and oppressed. God alone can save; salvation belongs to Him (Psalm 3:8).
Hope and help are always close at hand, yet too often we fail to pray. The very reasons that should compel us to seek God in prayer become the cause of our discouragement. We feel weighed down by our needs and undone by our sin. We feel weak and ashamed. We wrongly conclude that God will reject us when we come to Him. We think that He will turn us away, and so we do not pray.
Daniel Herbert’s hymn, “Come Boldly to the Throne of Grace,” is a welcoming encouragement to pray. Though we are “wretched sinners,” we can lay our load at Jesus’ feet. Though we are “lost and blind and lame” in our sin, the Lord will befriend us. Though we are “bankrupt” and feel the terrible weight of sin’s condemnation, we are assured of the promise: “The Lord will take you in.” Because of Christ we can “come boldly to the throne of grace” and “obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:16).
Come Boldly to the Throne of Grace
Come boldly to the throne of grace,
Ye wretched sinners come;
And lay your load at Jesus’ feet,
And plead what He has done.
“How can I come?” some soul my say,
“I’m lame and cannot walk;
My guilt and sin have stopped my mouth;
I sigh but dare not talk.”
Come boldly to the throne of grace,
Though lost and blind and lame;
Jehovah is the sinner’s Friend
And ever was the same.
He makes the dead to hear His voice,
He makes the blind to see.
The sinner lost He came to save,
And set the pris’ner free.
Come boldly to the throne of grace,
For Jesus fills the throne;
And those He kills He makes alive,
He hears the sigh or groan.
Poor bankrupt souls; who feel and know
The hell of sin within,
Come boldly to the throne of grace,
The Lord will take you in.
“Come Boldly to the Throne of Grace”
Words by Daniel Herbert (1751–1833)
From Selection of Hymns edited by William Gadsby, 1838
Tune: HERBERT
Music by Tom Wells, 2001
Words ©Public Domain
Music ©2001 Tom Wells (Used by Permission)
Tom Wells (Heritage Baptist Church in Mansfield, Texas) composed the tune for this hymn. Download free sheet music (PDF), including a guitar chord charts and an arrangement of the hymn tune HERBERT for classical guitar.