My Strong Defender

A Poem By I. A. Crane-Father of H.E.Crane

My Lord to all eternity
I ne're can pay my debt to thee;
Thy life a ransom thou didst give
To save my soul and let me live.

When wicked men their bows do bend
My helpless soul thou dost defend;
And alway every where I go
I'm safe from every lurking foe.

Though thousands may my way oppose
And friends should turn to be my foes,
No wound they can inflict on me
But such as God permits to be.

Should persecution lift its hand
And wicked laws oppress the land
Will prison bars prove him untrue?
No, bless his name, He'll be there too.

E'ne though my life those foes may take,
I need not fear the firy stake;
They cannot close the tomb on me
Christ conquered death and holds the key.

Yet, what am I O Lord to thee
That thou shouldst be a friend to me
I'm but a sinner Thou dost know;
Then why dost thou such care bestow?

Though I eternity shall spend
In years that never, never end,
I never shall Thy love repay
For this Thy care from day to day.