Thine eye, Lord God, alone can see

Thine eye, Lord God, alone can see

Author: James Montgomery
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

Thine eye, Lord God, alone can see
The soul through every secret part;
The mystery of iniquity
Hid in the hollow of man's heart.

Myself unto myself reveal,
Light let me see in Thy pure light;
The eye of unbelief unseal,
Change doubt to faith, and faith to sight:

By inward vision to discern
The misery of my fall'n estate,
And from that sad disclosure learn
Life's hardest lesson, ere too late:--

Life's hardest lesson, but its best!
The source of all my ills to trace
Through the dark windings of my breast,
Or in the world's deceitful face.

How long, how far on pilgrimage
To Zion have I feign'd to go,
Yet went astray at every stage,
Snared or smit down by every foe!

Now, a poor way-worn traveller,
With slower speed, and failing strength
At every step I fear to err,
And be a cast-away at length.

172
Thou Light, that lightenest every one
Who toils through this bewildering path,
Shine on my soul, that I may shun
The broad, dark, downward road to wrath.

So let that narrow path be mine,
Which, level as the morning ray,
Like it, shall upward tend, and shine,
From earth's faint dawn to Heaven's full day.

Sacred Poems and Hymns

Author: James Montgomery

James Montgomery (b. Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, 1771; d. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, 1854), the son of Moravian parents who died on a West Indies mission field while he was in boarding school, Montgomery inherited a strong religious bent, a passion for missions, and an independent mind. He was editor of the Sheffield Iris (1796-1827), a newspaper that sometimes espoused radical causes. Montgomery was imprisoned briefly when he printed a song that celebrated the fall of the Bastille and again when he described a riot in Sheffield that reflected unfavorably on a military commander. He also protested against slavery, the lot of boy chimney sweeps, and lotteries. Associated with Christians of various persuasions, Montgomery supported missio… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: Thine eye, Lord God, alone can see
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English

Instances

Instances (1 - 1 of 1)
Text

Sacred Poems and Hymns #169

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