Scripture Verse

There shall no evil befall thee, neither shall any plague come nigh thy dwelling. Psalm 91:10

Introduction

Words: Tho­mas Jer­vis, in A Se­lect­ion of Psalms and Hymns, ed­it­ed by Will­iam Em­er­son (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Mun­roe, Fran­cis & Par­ker, 1808), page 40, alt.

Music: Tim­na Lo­well Ma­son, Car­mi­na Sac­ra (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: John H. Wil­kins & Ri­chard B. Car­ter, 1841), page 231 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

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

portrait
Lowell Mason (1792–1872)

Lyrics

How vast is the tri­bute I owe
Of gra­ti­tude, hom­age, and praise
To God, who gives all I pos­sess,
The life and the length of my days!

Thou on­ly, great Au­thor of all!
The faith­ful, un­change­able Friend!
Thou on­ly our griefs canst re­move,
Thou on­ly from ev­il de­fend.

When sor­rows I dread­ed were come,
I poured out my sighs and my tears;
To Him, who alone can re­lieve,
My soul breathed her vows and her pray­ers.

My heart throbbed with pain and alarm,
And pale­ness my cheek ov­er­spread;
When sick­ness per­vad­ed my frame,
My soul on my mak­er was stayed.

When death’s aw­ful im­age was nigh,
No mor­tal was able to save;
Thou bright­ened the val­ley of death,
And lit up the gloom of the grave.

In mer­cy Thy pre­sence dispels
The shades of ca­la­mi­ty’s night,
And turns the sad scene of des­pair
To morn­ing of joy and de­light.

Great source of my com­forts re­stored!
Thou heal­er and balm of my woes!
Thou hope and de­sire of my soul!
Thy mer­cy no plague can op­pose.

How bound­less the gra­ti­tude due
To Thee, O Thou God of my praise!
The fount­ain of all I pos­sess,
The life and the light of my days!