Scripture Verse

He that dwelleth in the secret place of the most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty. Psalm 91:1

Introduction

Words: From Bi­ble Songs, re­vised and en­larged ed­it­ion (Pitts­burgh, Penn­syl­van­ia: Unit­ed Pres­by­ter­ian Board of Pu­bli­ca­tion, 1901), num­ber 184.

Music: Tal­lis’ Ca­non Tho­mas Tal­lis, in The Whole Psal­ter Trans­lat­ed in­to Eng­lish Metre, by Mat­thew Par­ker, 1560 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

portrait
Thomas Tallis (1505–1585)

Lyrics

The man who once has found ab­ode
Within the sec­ret place of God
Shall with Al­migh­ty God ab­ide,
And in His sha­dow safe­ly hide.

I of the Lord my God will say,
He is my re­fuge and my stay;
To Him for safe­ty I will flee;
My God, in Him my trust will be.

He shall with all pro­tect­ing care
Preserve thee from the fowl­er’s snare;
When fear­ful plagues around pre­vail,
No fa­tal stroke shall thee as­sail.

His out­spread pin­ions shall thee hide;
Beneath His wings shalt thou con­fide;
His faith­ful­ness shall ev­er be
A shield and buck­ler unto thee.

No night­ly ter­rors shall alarm;
No dead­ly shaft by day shall harm;
Nor pes­ti­lence that walks by night,
Nor plagues that waste in noon­day light.

A thou­sand at thy side shall lie,
At thy right hand ten thou­sand die;
But thou un­harmed, se­cure, shalt see
What wick­ed men’s re­ward shall be.

Because thy trust is God alone,
Thy dwell­ing place the High­est One,
No ev­il shall upon thee come,
Nor plague ap­proach thy guard­ed home.

O’er thee His an­gels He com­mands
To bear thee safe­ly in their hands,
To keep thee in thy ways each one,
Nor dash thy foot against a stone.

“Thy foot shall crush the ad­der’s head,
On li­ons and on dra­gons tread;
And since on Me he set his love,
I will his con­stant Sav­ior prove.

“Because to him My name is dear,
I’ll him ex­alt above all fear.
To Me he’ll lift his ear­nest cry
And I will an­swer from on high.

I will be near when trou­bles press;
I’ll save Him, and with hon­ors bless;
With life he sa­tis­fied shall be,
And My sal­va­tion he shall see.