According to Thy mercy, Lord

The hymn "According to Thy mercy, Lord" is a composite devotional piece structured as a cento (a poem assembled from distinct textual fragments). Focusing on the theme of spiritual supplication, it was first compiled in 3 stanzas of 4 lines each for the Moravian Hymn Book in 1789, where it was assigned entry Number 720. The composite text retained its position in subsequent nineteenth-century editions of the hymnal, appearing as Number 723 in the 1849 revision.

The structural origins and translation lineage of the piece were extensively documented by the Reverend John Eberle in his historical notes for the Moravian Messenger in March 1870. The analysis details a complex combination of separate German authors and English translators:

The opening stanza was originally written by Johann Schneesing, drawing directly from the third stanza of his classic German hymn, Allein zu dir, Herr Jesu Christ. This section was rendered into English by the Moravian minister Johannes Swertner.

The second stanza originates from a separate German lyric by Count Nicolaus Ludwig von Zinzendorf, Ach mein verwundeter Fürste. This portion was translated for English congregations by Frederich William Foster.

The third and final stanza also traces back to Zinzendorf's Ach mein verwundeter Fürste, but was translated independently by Johannes Swertner.

Beyond its primary role within official Moravian worship collections, the complete 3-stanza cento achieved broader liturgical circulation. It was adopted into general English hymnody by Dr. John Nikolaus Pagenstecher, who included it as entry Number 132 in his Collection of Hymns for Public Worship in 1864.