Scripture Verse

The eternal God is thy refuge, and underneath are the everlasting arms. Deuteronomy 33:27

Introduction

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John Q. Adams
1767–1848

Words: John Q. Ad­ams (1767–1848). Ap­peared in Po­ems of Re­li­gion and So­cie­ty by John Quin­cy Ad­ams, by John Da­vis & T. H. Ben­ton (New York: Will­iam H. Gra­ham, 1848), pag­es 62–63.

Music: Kings­fold Eng­lish tune, ar­ranged by Ralph Vaugh­an Will­iams, 1906 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

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Ralph Vaughan Williams (1872–1958)

Background

In 1620, Eng­lish peo­ple called Pil­grims went to Am­er­ica, seek­ing re­li­gious free­dom. They re­port­ed­ly ar­rived at Plymouth, Mas­sa­chu­setts, on the ship May­flow­er, De­cem­ber 22, 1620.

illustration
Landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth

Lyrics

When o’er the bil­low-heav­ing deep,
The fa­thers of our race,
The pre­cepts of their God to keep,
Sought here their rest­ing-place—
That gra­cious God their path pre­pared,
Preserved from ev­ery harm,
And still for their pro­tect­ion bared
His ev­er­last­ing arm.

His breath, in­spir­ing ev­ery gale,
Impels them o’er the main;
His guard­ian an­gels spread the sail,
And tem­pests howl in vain.
For them old ocean’s rocks are smoothed;
December’s face grows mild;
To ver­nal airs her blasts are soothed,
And all their rage be­guiled.

When Fa­mine rolls her hag­gard eyes,
His ever-boun­te­ous hand
Abundance from the sea sup­plies,
And trea­sures from the sand.
Nor yet His ten­der mer­cies cease;
His ov­er­rul­ing plan
Inclines to gen­tle­ness and peace
The heart of sa­vage man.

And can our sto­ny bo­soms be
To all these won­ders blind?
Nor swell with thank­ful­ness to Thee,
O Parent of man­kind?
All-gra­cious God, in­flame our zeal;
Dispense one bless­ing more;
Grant us Thy bound­less love to feel,
Thy good­ness to adore.