"I Am Not Worthy, Holy Lord"

In 1875, Henry Baker (1821-1877) wrote the words to the melody “I Am Not Worthy, Holy Lord.”  A native of Surrey, England, Baker attended Trinity College at Cambridge.  He was ordained in 1844.  Beginning in 1860, he was the chief editor of the Anglican Hymns Ancient and Modern, a collection of hymnal melodies, which sold over 60 million copies.  “I Am Not Worthy, Holy Lord” is apparently published in this collection.

There are three variations in melody for “I Am Not Worthy, Holy Lord.”  The first is “Leicester,” written by William Hurst in 1870. A second is “Ang­mer­ing,” written by Charles H.H. Parry in Brooke’s Al­ter­na­tive Hymn Tunes, 1902. and a third is“Richmond (Haweis),” written by Thomas Haweis in 1792.

“I Am Not Worthy, Holy Lord”

I am not worthy, holy Lord,
That Thou shouldst come to me;
Speak but the word; one gracious word
Can set the sinner free.

I am not worthy; cold and bare
The lodging of my soul;
How canst Thou deign to enter there?
Lord, speak, and make me whole.

I am not worthy; yet, my God,
How can I say Thee nay;
Thee, Who didst give Thy flesh and blood
My ransom price to pay?

O come! in this sweet morning hour
Feed me with food divine;
And fill with all Thy love and power
This worthless heart of mine.

The variations in melodies on the hymn “I Am Not Worthy, Holy Lord” can be explained because of  differences in the churches that used the tune, as well as the kind of instrument the melody would be played on.

“I Am Not Worthy, Holy Lord”

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