Scripture Verse

Lord, Thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Psalm 90:1

Introduction

Words: Eli­za M. Sher­man, in Joy­ful Lays, ed­it­ed by Ro­bert Low­ry & W. How­ard Doane (New York & Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois: Big­low & Main, 1884), page 106.

Music: Sai­ta­ma Hu­bert P. Main (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

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

portrait
Hubert P. Main (1839–1925)

Lyrics

Father, be­fore Thy throne
My soul would bow;
Ne’er have I asked in vain;
O hear me now;
Hear Thou the pray­er I make,
Answer for Je­sus’ sake;
Bid faith and love awake
Within my heart.

Father, this heart of mine,
Which now I bring,
Lies down be­fore Thy feet,
A guil­ty thing;
Kindle its al­tar fire,
Then hope and zeal in­spire;
Wake Thou its si­lent lyre
In praise to Thee.

Thou art our dwell­ing place
In ev­ery age;
In Thy sweet love we trace
Our he­ri­tage—
Our re­fuge from the storm,
Our shel­ter safe and warm;
Help us our vows per­form,
Father di­vine.