Under His wings shalt thou trust…Thou shalt not be afraid for the terror by night; nor for the arrow that flieth by day; nor for the pestilence that walketh in darkness; nor for the destruction that wasteth at noonday. A thousand shall fall at thy side, and ten thousand at thy right hand; but it shall not come nigh thee.
Psalm 91:4–7
Words: Arranged from James Nicholson (1828–1876) by Richard W. Adams, April 5, 2020 (public domain). Click here for another arrangement.
Music: Green Fields from The Peasant Cantata (Mer hahn en neue Oberkeet), by Johann S. Bach, 1742. Arranged by Lewis Edson in The Chorister’s Companion (New Haven, Connecticut: 1782) (🔊 pdf nwc).
I wrote this arrangement during the coronavirus pandemic.
I had just finished watching our church’s Palm Sunday service. The service was broadcast by streaming video over the Internet (since we weren’t supposed to gather in groups of more than 10 people).
Richard Adams, 2020
In God I have found a retreat
Where I can securely reside;
No refuge, nor rest so complete,
And here may I always abide.
Refrain
Oh, precious the comfort it brings,
And sweet is my song as it rings;
No danger or harm do I fear,
Secure in the shade of His wings.
I dread not the terror by night,
Nor arrow that flies in the day;
His shadow has covered my head,
My fears He has driven away.
Refrain
The pestilence stalking about,
When darkness has settled abroad,
Can never persuade me to doubt
The presence and power of God.
Refrain
The wasting destruction at noon,
No fearful foreboding can bring;
With Jesus, my soul does commune,
His perfect salvation I sing.
Refrain
A thousand may fall at my side,
Ten thousand may die in the land;
Above me His wings are spread wide,
Beneath them in safety I stand.
Refrain