Once, Lord, a broken reed I was,
And could not stand at all;
And now my standing is by grace,
Should grace remove I fall.
So stands a building, Lord, upright,
Kept so by friendly props;
But take away the buttress quite,
The moment next it drops.
My Buttress, dearest Jesus, be;
Nor once withdraw thine hand;
I cannot fall, upheld by thee;
Deserted cannot stand.
Unattributed. Published in The Gospel Magazine, December 1766.