Precious Promise

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Precious promise God hath given

Author: Nathaniel Niles
Tune: [Precious promise God hath given] (Bliss)
Published in 130 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 Precious promise God hath given
To the weary passer-by,
All the way from earth to Heaven;
I will guide thee with mine eye.

Refrain:
I will guide thee, I will guide thee,
I will guide thee with mine eye;
All the way from earth to Heaven,
I will guide thee with mine eye.

2 When temptations almost win thee,
And thy trusted watchers fly,
Let this promise ring within thee:
I will guide thee with mine eye.

3 When thy secret hopes have perished
In the grave of years gone by,
Let this promise still be cherished:
I will guide thee with mine eye.

4 When the shades of life are falling,
And the hour has come to die,
Hear thy trusted leader calling:
I will guide thee with mine eye.

Source: The Song Book of the Salvation Army #753

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Author: Nathaniel Niles

Franck Nathaniel Niles USA 1835-1917. Born at South Kingstown, RI, grandson of Rv Nathaniel Niles, he was educated at Philips Andover Academy for the legal profession and admitted to the NY Bar in 1857. He practiced law at Providence, RI and in New York City. In the 1870s he was living in Morristown, NJ. In 1872 he served as speaker of the NJ state assembly. He published a plan in 1868 for the “Construction of a ship canal between the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, Central America”. In 1879 he became Government Director of the Union Pacific Railroad. He was also made President of Tradesman’s National Bank of New York City. Information found says he and his wife (unnamed) had a son, Alex. His hymn was written while traveling in… Go to person page >

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First Line:	Precious promise God hath given
Title:	Precious Promise
Author:	Nathaniel Niles
Language:	English
Refrain First Line:	I will guide thee, I will guide thee
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Precious promise God hath given. N. Niles. [The Divine Guide.] Concerning this hymn and its writer, S. W. Duffield says in his English Hymns, 1886, p. 461:—

"This well-known ‘Moody and Sankey' hymn was written by Mr. Nathaniel Niles, a resident of Morristown, New Jersey, and, at that time, a lawyer in New York City. Mr. Niles was born at South Kingston, Rhode Island, September 15th, 1835. He composed these verses on the margin of a newspaper in the railway car while on his way to business."

The hymn was published in The Episcopalian; and again in P. Bliss's Gospel Songs, 1874, with music by Bliss. The text and music in I. D. Sankey's Sacred Songs and Solos, are from the Gospel Song.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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