If Human Kindness Meets Return

If human kindness meets return,
And owns the grateful tie;
If tender thoughts within us burn
To feel a friend is nigh;
O shall not warmer accents tell
The gratitude we owe
To Him Who died, our fears to quell,
Our more than orphan’s woe!

While yet His anguished soul surveyed
Those pangs he would not flee,
What love His latest words displayed,
“Meet and remember me!”
Remember Thee! Thy death, Thy shame
Our sinful hearts to share!
O memory, leave no other name
But His recorded there.

Author: James Montgomery

Year: 1825

This hymn text by James Montgomery (1771-1854) first appeared in his collection The Christian Psalmist (1825). It is sometimes known by its first line or as "According to Thy Gracious Word" (a different hymn); no strong alternate attributions exist.