Scripture Verse

In Thy presence is fullness of joy. Psalm 16:11

Introduction

portrait
William H. Havergal (1793–1870)

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

Music: Ed­en (Ha­ver­gal) Will­iam H. Ha­ver­gal, 1853 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

Eternal source of joys di­vine,
To Thee my soul as­pires;
O could I say, The Lord is mine,
’Tis all my soul de­sires.

Thy smile can give me real joy,
Unmingled and re­fined,
Substantial bliss, with­out al­loy,
And last­ing as the mind.

Thy smile can gild the shades of woe,
Bid stor­my trou­ble cease,
Spread the fair dawn of Heav’n be­low,
And sweet­en pain to peace.

My hope, my trust, my life, my Lord,
Assure me of Thy love;
O speak the kind, trans­port­ing word,
And bid my fears re­move.

Then shall my thank­ful pow­ers re­joice,
And tri­umph in my God,
Till heav’n­ly rap­ture tune my voice,
To spread Thy praise abroad.