Scripture Verse

If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; even there shall Thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. Psalm 139:9-10

Introduction

Words: Sam­uel D. Rob­bins, in Elim; or Hymns of Ho­ly Re­fresh­ment, ed­it­ed by Fred­er­ic D. Hunt­ing­ton (Bo­ston, Mas­sa­chu­setts: E. P. Dut­ton, 1866).

Music: Wim­borne John Whi­ta­ker, 1820 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

Thou art, O God! my East. In Thee I dawned;
Within me ev­er let Thy day-spring shine;
Then, for each night of sor­row I have mourned,
I’ll bless Thee, Fa­ther, since it seals me Thine.

Thou art, O God! my North. My trem­bling soul,
Like a charmed nee­dle, points to Thee alone;
Each wave of time, each storm of life, shall roll
My trust­ing spir­it for­ward to Thy throne.

Thou art, O God! my South. Thy fer­vent love
Perennial ver­dure o’er my life hath shed;
And con­stant sun­shine from Thy heart of love,
With wine and oil Thy grate­ful child hath fed.

Thou art, O God! my West. In­to Thy arms,
Glad as the set­ting sun, may I de­cline;
Baptized from earth­ly stains and sin’s al­arms,
Re-born, arise in Thy new hea­vens to shine.