Scripture Verse

I am with you always, to the very end of the age. Matthew 28:20

Introduction

portrait
Frederick Faber
(1814–1863)

Words: Fred­er­ick W. Fa­ber (1814–1863), alt. Ap­peared in the Ply­mouth Col­lect­ion of Hymns and Tunes, ed­it­ed by Hen­ry W. Beech­er (New York: A. S. Barnes, 1855), num­ber 596.

Music: Wee­hawk­en Elam Ives, Jr. (1802–1864). Ap­peared in The Church Porch, com­piled by Will­iam R. Hunt­ing­ton (New York: E. P. Dut­ton, 1874), num­ber 90 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

Dear Je­sus! ev­er at my side,
How lov­ing Thou must be
To leave Thy home in Heav’n to guard
A lit­tle child like me.

Thy beau­ti­ful and shin­ing face
I see not, though so near;
The sweet­ness of Thy soft low voice
I am too deaf to hear.

I can­not feel Thee touch my hand,
With pres­sure light and mild,
To check me, as my mo­ther did,
When I was but a child.

But I have felt Thee in my thoughts,
Rebuking sin for me;
And when my heart loves God, I know
The sweet­ness is from Thee.

And when, dear Sav­ior, I kneel down,
Morning and night in pray­er,
Something there is with­in my heart
Which tells me Thou art there.

Yes, when I pray, Thou pray­est too—
Thy pray­er is all for me;
But when I sleep, Thou sleep­est not,
But watch­est pa­tient­ly,