Scripture Verse

Because Thy lovingkindness is better than life, my lips shall praise Thee. Psalm 63:3

Introduction

portrait
John Hughes (1872–1914)

Words: Fan­ny Cros­by, in Win­dows of Hea­ven, new edi­tion, com­piled by Hen­ry M. Whar­ton, re­vised by I. S. Field (Bal­ti­more, Ma­ry­land: Na­tion­al Ev­an­gel­iz­ation So­ci­ety, 1898), num­ber 79.

Music: Ca­lon Lân John Hughes (1872–1914) (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know when the mu­sic was writ­ten,

portrait
Fanny Crosby (1820–1915)

Lyrics

Like a vine whose ten­der branch­es
’Round the oak have learned to cling;
So my heart has found a shel­ter
In Thy love, O Lord, my king.

Refrain

Day by day my lips shall of­fer
Grateful songs of praise to Thee;
For Thy won­drous lov­ing­kind­ness,
Better far than life to me.

As a bird on pin­ions wea­ry,
Trembling seeks its par­ent nest,
Came my spir­it hea­vy la­den
To its re­fuge on Thy breast.

Refrain

In Thy pre­cious lov­ing­kind­ness
Shall my trust­ing soul abide,
From the ar­rows of op­press­ion
Guarded safe on ev­ery side.

Refrain

Higher than the hills that cir­cle
’Round Thy throne in Hea­ven above,
Deeper than the migh­ty ocean
Is Thy vast eter­nal love.

Refrain