Psalm 38:21-22: "21 Do not forsake me, O LORD! O my God, be not far from me! 22 Make haste to help me, O Lord, my salvation!"
Psalm 22:11: "Be not far from me, for trouble is near, and there is none to help."
Psalm 22:19: "But you, O LORD, do not be far off! O you my help, come quickly to my aid!"
Psalm 71: "1 In you, O LORD, do I take refuge; let me never be put to shame! 2 In your righteousness deliver me and rescue me; incline your ear to me, and save me! 3 Be to me a rock of refuge, to which I may continually come; you have given the command to save me, for you are my rock and my fortress.
"4 Rescue me, O my God, from the hand of the wicked, from the grasp of the unjust and cruel man. 5 For you, O Lord, are my hope, my trust, O LORD, from my youth. 6 Upon you I have leaned from before my birth; you are he who took me from my mother's womb. My praise is continually of you.
"7 I have been as a portent to many, but you are my strong refuge. 8 My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day. 9 Do not cast me off in the time of old age; forsake me not when my strength is spent. 10 For my enemies speak concerning me; those who watch for my life consult together 11 and say, 'God has forsaken him; pursue and seize him, for there is none to deliver him.'
"12 O God, be not far from me; O my God, make haste to help me! 13 May my accusers be put to shame and consumed; with scorn and disgrace may they be covered who seek my hurt. 14 But I will hope continually and will praise you yet more and more. 15 My mouth will tell of your righteous acts, of your deeds of salvation all the day, for their number is past my knowledge. 16 With the mighty deeds of the Lord GOD I will come; I will remind them of your righteousness, yours alone.
"17 O God, from my youth you have taught me, and I still proclaim your wondrous deeds. 18 So even to old age and gray hairs, O God, do not forsake me, until I proclaim your might to another generation, your power to all those to come. 19 Your righteousness, O God, reaches the high heavens. You who have done great things, O God, who is like you? 20 You who have made me see many troubles and calamities will revive me again; from the depths of the earth you will bring me up again. 21 You will increase my greatness and comfort me again. 22 I will also praise you with the harp for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing praises to you with the lyre, O Holy One of Israel. 23 My lips will shout for joy, when I sing praises to you; my soul also, which you have redeemed. 24 And my tongue will talk of your righteous help all the day long, for they have been put to shame and disappointed who sought to do me hurt."
Psalm 27:9: "Hide not your face from me. Turn not your servant away in anger, O you who have been my help. Cast me not off; forsake me not, O God of my salvation!"
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The text is public domain:
1 O God, forsake me not!Your gracious presence lend me;Lord, lead your helpless child;Your Holy Spirit send meThat I my course may run.O be my light, my lot,My staff, my rock, my shield -O God, forsake me not!2 O God, forsake me not!Take not Your Spirit from me;Do not permit the mightOf sin to overcome me.Increase my feeble faith,Which You alone have wrought.O be my strength and pow'r -O God, forsake me not!3 O God, forsake me not!Lord, hear my supplication!In ev'ry evil hourHelp me resist temptation;And when the prince of hellMy conscience seeks to blot,Be then not far from me -O God, forsake me not!4 O God, forsake me not!Lord, I am Yours forever.O keep me strong in faithThat I may leave You never.Grant me a blessed endWhen my good fight is fought;Help me in life and death -O God, forsake me not!
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All of the cited passages have the same basic idea, which is rendered in the hymn as the repeated line "O God, forsake me not!" Psalm 71:3, in which God is described as "a rock of refuge," seems to be one of the verses from which the line "My staff, my rock, my shield" in the first verse is drawn, although the image of God as a rock also appears in other Psalms (31:2-3, 62:2, and 92:15). Likewise, the image of God as a shield occurs in multiple Psalms (including 3:3, 28:7, 33:20, and 84:11).
The lines "Your Holy Spirit send me / That I my course may run" in the first verse seem to refer to part of Hebrews 12:1: "let us run with endurance the race that is set before us."
The line "Take not Your Spirit from me" in the second verse comes from Psalm 51:11: "Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me."
The line "When my good fight is fought" in the fourth verse seems to refer to the first part of 1 Timothy 6:12: "Fight the good fight of the faith."
