A great and strong ind rent the mountains, and broke in pieces the rocks before the Lord, but the Lord as not in the ind; and after the ind an earthquake, but the Lord as not in the earthquake.
1 Kings 19:11
Words: Josiah Conder, Happisburgh, Norwich, June 1822. Appeared in The Star in the East (London: Taylor & Hessey, 1824), pages 74–75.
Music: Sherwood Henry J. Gauntlett (🔊 pdf nwc).
Beyond, beyond that boundless sea,
Above that dome of sky,
Further than thought itself can flee,
Thy dwelling is on high:
Yet, dear the awful thought to me,
That Thou, my God, art nigh:
Art nigh, and yet my laboring mind
Feels after Thee in vain,
Thee in these works of power to find,
Or to Thy seat attain;
Thy messenger, the stormy wind;
Thy path, the trackless main—
These speak of Thee with loud acclaim;
They thunder forth Thy praise,
The glorious honor of Thy name,
The wonders of Thy ways:
But Thou art not in tempest-flame,
Nor in day’s glorious blaze.
We hear Thy voice, when thunders roll
Through the wide fields of air.
The waves obey Thy dread control;
Yet still Thou art not there.
Where shall I find Him, O my soul,
Who yet is everywhere?
O! not in circling depth or height,
But in the conscious breast,
Present to faith, though veiled from sight,
There doth His Spirit rest.
O come, Thou Presence infinite,
And make Thy creature blest.