"Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation". So Jesus admonished his disciples on the night of his betrayal. Scripture shows us that the disciples were sleepy and could not keep their eyes open. In the result, they were unprepared for the "hour of darkness", and Peter was trapped into denying the Lord.
This hymn, by Isaac Williams (1802-65), is a reminder steadfastly to acknowledge our weakness and dependence on God, so that we are more likely to turn to him in times of trial. In this context, I always think of John Newton who, after his conversion, having realised his ambition to become a preacher (and a highly successful one at that), never once wavered from his confession that he was nothing but a "sinner saved by grace".
The tune is the great Abridge, published in 1770 by Isaac Smith.
