Scripture Verse

If I ascend up into Heaven, Thou art there. If I make my bed in hell, behold, Thou art there. Psalm 139:8

Introduction

portrait
John Q. Adams (1767–1848)

Words: John Q. Ad­ams (1767–1848).

Music: Je­sus Is God Will­iam C. Poole, in Ho­san­na (New York: New Church Press, 1920) (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know when this hymn was writ­ten, or where to get a good pho­to of Poole (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

O Lord, Thy all discerning eyes
My inmost purpose see;
My deeds, my words, my thoughts, arise
Alike disclosed to Thee:
My sitting down, my rising up,
Broad noon, and deepest night,
My path, my pillow, and my cup,
Are open to Thy sight.

Before, behind, I meet Thine eye,
And feel Thy heavy hand:
Such knowledge is for me too high,
To reach or understand:
What of Thy wonders can I know?
What of Thy purpose see?
Where from Thy Spi­rit shall I go?
Where from Thy presence flee?

If I as­cend to Hea­ven on high,
Or make my bed in hell;
Or take the morning’s wings, and fly
O’er ocean’s bounds to dwell;
Or seek, from Thee, a hiding place
Amid the gloom of night—
Alike to Thee are time and space,
The darkness and the light.