Is there a heart o’erbound by sorrow? 
Is there a life weighed down by care?
Come to the cross—each burden bearing. 
All your anxiety—leave it there.

    All your anxiety, all your care, 
     Bring to the mercy seat—leave it there.
     Never a burden He cannot bear, 
     Never a friend like Jesus!

No other friend so keen to help you, 
No other friend so quick to hear;
No other place to leave your burden, 
No other one to hear your prayer.

Come then at once—delay no longer! 
Heed His entreaty kind and sweet.
You need not fear a disappointment. 
You shall find rest at the mercy seat.

     All your anxiety, all your care, 
     Bring to the mercy seat—leave it there.
     Never a burden He cannot bear, 
     Never a friend like Jesus!

Edward H. Joy (1871-1949)

Copied from my church hymnal, Rejoice Hymns. Majesty Music: Greenville, SC, 2011, Hymn 162.

Note: This hymn is in the public domain. I have missed a lot of Sundays sharing a hymn. The trials have been many and long: surgeries, car accidents, funerals, and more. But worst of all has been the discouragement. Now a dear friend is facing a bigger battle than all my little ones combined, so I have laid aside my own downheartedness to support him and his wife with daily prayer and Scriptures. Just now I’m compiling a collection of hymn texts to send to them with the intent of offering more consolation. As I was typing out the words, it occurred to me that it would be a simple thing to put one of these hymns on my blog. If my friends and I are struggling right now, chances are other people are too. Why don’t we all together take our anxieties to the Mercy Seat and leave them there!

Photo taken in Milton, FL, 2021

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