Scripture Verse

My soul thirsteth for God, for the living God: when shall I come and appear before God? Psalm 42:2

Introduction

Words: Hen­ry F. Lyte, Po­ems, Chief­ly Re­li­gious, 1833 & 1845.

Music: Al­ice Ro­bert Ro­berts (1863–?) (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Ro­berts (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Henry F. Lyte (1793–1847)

Lyrics

Lone amidst the dead and dy­ing,
Lord, my spi­rit faints for Thee;
Longing, thirst­ing, droop­ing, sigh­ing,
When shall I Thy pre­sence see?

O how al­tered my con­di­tion;
Late I led the joy­ous throng;
Beat my heart with full fru­i­tion,
Flowed my lips with grate­ful song.

Now the storm goes wild­ly o’er me,
Waves on waves my soul con­found:
Naught but bod­ing fears be­fore me,
Naught but threat­en­ing foes around.

Save me, save me, O my Fa­ther!
To Thy faith­ful word I cling;
Thence, my soul, thy com­fort ga­ther;
Hope, and thou again shalt sing.