Scripture Verse

My hope is in Thee. Psalm 39:7

Introduction

Words: Anne Steele, Po­ems on Sub­jects Chief­ly De­vo­tion­al 1760.

Music: Re­pose (Har­mo­nia), in Har­mon­ia Sac­ra, 5th edi­tion, by Jo­seph Funk, 1851 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

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

Lyrics

Thou on­ly so­ver­eign of my heart,
My re­fuge, my al­migh­ty friend—
And can my soul from Thee de­part,
On whom alone my hopes de­pend?

Whither, ah! whi­ther shall I go,
A wretch­ed wan­der­er from my Lord?
Can this dark world of sin and woe
One glimpse of hap­pi­ness af­ford?

Eternal life Thy words im­part;
On these my faint­ing spir­it lives;
Here sweet­er com­forts cheer my heart
Than all the round of na­ture gives.

Let earth’s al­lur­ing joys com­bine,
While Thou art near, in vain they call;
One smile, one bliss­ful smile of Thine,
My dear­est Lord, out­weighs them all.

Thy name my in­most pow­ers adore,
Thou art my life, my joy, my care:
Depart from thee—’tis death—’tis more,
’Tis end­less ruin, deep des­pair.

Low at Thy feet my soul would lie,
Here safe­ty dwell, and peace di­vine;
Still let me live be­neath Thine eye,
For life, eter­nal life is Thine.