Igbagbo Mi N Wo O

Words: Ray Palmer, 1830

Igbagbo mi n wo O, Iwo Od'Aguntan, Olugbala, Jo, gbo adura mi Mese mi gbogbo lo Kemi latoni lo si je tire. Ki ore-ofe Re, Filera fokan mi, Mu mi tara; Biwo ti ku fun mi, A! kife mi si O, Ko ma gbona titi, Ina iye. Gba mo rin lokunkun, Tibinu yi mi ka, Samona mi, Mokunkun lo loni, N'omije anu nu, Lai, ma je ki n sako Li odo Re. Gbati aye ba pin, Todo tutu iku, Nsan lori mi: Jesu, ninu ife, Mu kifoya mi lo, Gbe mi doke orun Bokan ta ra.

My faith looks up to Thee, Thou Lamb of Calvary, Savior divine! Now hear me while I pray, take all my guilt away, O let me from this day be wholly Thine! May Thy rich grace impart Strength to my fainting heart, my zeal inspire! As Thou hast died for me, O may my love to Thee, Pure warm, and changeless be, a living fire! While life’s dark maze I tread, And griefs around me spread, be Thou my guide; Bid darkness turn to day, wipe sorrow’s tears away, Nor let me ever stray from Thee aside. When ends life’s transient dream, When death’s cold sullen stream over me roll; Blest Savior, then, in love fear and distrust remove. O bear me safe above, redeemed and free!

Palmer wrote these lyrics upon receiving a vision of Christ shortly after his graduation from Yale University, while working as a tutor at a New York school. However, he kept them to himself until meeting Lowell Mason on a street in Boston, Massachusetts. When Mason asked him to write something for a new hymnal, Palmer dug out his old notes and produced these lyrics, written two years earlier. After taking the lyrics home and reading them, Mason composed this tune. Several days later he saw Palmer again and said, "You may live many years and do many good things, but I think you will be best known to posterity as the author of My Faith Looks Up to Thee." --Source