Help me O Lord thy way to keep
In truth and in sincerity
For what I sow that must I reap
Through time and in eternity

abc | midi | pdf

---

Source: Patterson, D W, 1979, The Shaker Spiritual, Princeton University Press, New Jersey

Notes:
Collected by Daniel Patterson (Shaker Spirituals), from Shaker MS L-14 at
the Lebanon, NY Shaker Community: A Collection of Verses, Anthems, and Tunes
etc. of Almost Any Description, written by Giles B. Avery (ca. 1835-1836).
According to Patterson, "three Lebanon manuscripts of the mid-1830s bar this
prayer song correctly but give no time signature; the scribes had never
heard of 5/4 measures. (A later copy written at Canterbury shifts measure by
measure from 2/4 to 3/4 time.) The tune itself derives from the large family
that serves such shape-note hymns as 'Primrose' and 'Consolation,' and the
[traditional UK] ballad 'The Bailiff's Daughter of Islington.' "


Roud:
Laws:
Child: