Adua Didun

Words: William W. Walford

Adua didun,  adua didun To gbe mi lo kuro laye, Lo'waju ite Baba mi, Ki n so gbogbo edun mi fun: Nigba'banuje ataro Adua laabo fun okan mi; Emi si bo lowo Esu 'Gbati mo ba gbadua didun. Adua didun,  adua didun Iye re yo gbe ebe mi, Lo sod'Eni t'O seleri Lati  bukun okan adua. Bo ti ko mi ki n woju Re Ki n gbekele,  ki n si gbagbo, N o ko gbogb'aniyan mi le E Ni akoko adua didun. Adua didun,  adua didun Je ki n ma r'itunu re gba Titi n o fi doke Pisgah, Ti n o rile mi lookere. N o bo ago ara sile Lati jogun ainipekun; N o korin bi mo ti n fo lo, O digbose,  Adua didun.

Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! that calls me from a world of care, and bids me at my Father's throne make all my wants and wishes known. In seasons of distress and grief, my soul has often found relief, and oft escaped the tempter's snare by thy return, sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! the joys I feel, the bliss I share of those whose anxious spirits burn with strong desires for thy return! With such I hasten to the place where God my Savior shows his face, and gladly take my station there, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer! Sweet hour of prayer! sweet hour of prayer! thy wings shall my petition bear to him whose truth and faithfulness engage the waiting soul to bless. And since he bids me seek his face, believe his word, and trust his grace, I'll cast on him my every care, and wait for thee, sweet hour of prayer!

William W. Walford, a blind preacher of England, is the author of the hymn beginning "Sweet hour of prayer." This hymn first appeared in print in the New York Observer September 13, 1845. The contributor who furnished the hymn says:

"During my residence at Coleshill, Warwickshire, England, I became acquainted with W. W. Walford, the blind preacher, a man of obscure birth and connections and no education, but of strong mind and most retentive memory. In the pulpit he never failed to select a lesson well adapted to his subject, giving chapter and verse with unerring precision, and scarcely ever misplacing a word in his repetition of the Psalms, every part of the New Testament, the prophecies, and some of the histories, so as to have the reputation of knowing the whole Bible by heart."

Rev. Thomas Salmon, who was settled as the pastor of the Congregational Church at Coleshill in 1838, remained until 1842, and then removed to the United States, is believed to have been the contributor who says of the hymn: "I rapidly copied the lines with my pencil as he uttered them, and send them for insertion in the Observer if you think them worthy of preservation."

From: Nutter, C. S., & Tillett, W. F. (1911). The hymns and hymn writers of the church, an annotated edition of The Methodist hymnal. New York: Methodist Book Concern.

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