Prayer for the Slave.
1 Father, who of old descended
From thy throne above the sky,
And thine Israel's rights defended,
Hear the bondman's anguished cry!
2 Hear how Ethiopia crieth,
Kneeling on the blood-stained sod;
And how sable Afric' sigheth,
Lifting up her hands to God!
3 From the grasp of strong oppression,
From the tyrant's rusting chain,
And from slavery's deep depression,
With its life-long hours of pain;
4 From our country's wide savannas,
Let the cry come up to thee,
Let the prayers become hosannas--
Father, set thy children free!