Searcher of hearts! to Thee are known
The inmost secrets of my breast
At home, abroad, in crowds, alone,
Thou mark'st my rising and my rest,
My thoughts far off, through every maze,
Source, stream, and issue,--all my ways.
How from Thy presence should I go,
Or whither from Thy Spirit flee,
Since all above, around, below,
Exist in Thine immensity?
If up to heaven I take my way,
I meet Thee in eternal day.
If in the grave I make my bed
With worms and dust, lo! Thou art there;
If, on the wings of morning sped,
Beyond the ocean I repair,
I feel Thine all-controlling will,
And Thy right hand upholds me still.
"Let darkness hide me," If I say,
Darkness can no concealment be;
Night on Thy rising shines like day;
Darkness and light are one with Thee:
For Thou mine embryo-form didst view,
Ere her own babe my mother knew.
In me Thy workmanship display'd,
A miracle of power I stand,
Fearfully, wonderfully made,
And framed in secret by Thine hand:
43
I lived, ere into being brought,
Through Thine eternity of thought.
How precious are Thy thoughts of peace,
O God, to me! how great the sum!
New every morn, they never cease;
They were, they are, and yet shall come,
In number and in compass more
Than ocean's sands or ocean's shore.
Search me, O God! and know my heart;
Try me, my inmost soul survey;
And warn Thy servant to depart
From every false and evil way;
So shall Thy truth my guidance be
To life and immortality.
Sacred Poems and Hymns
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 >
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