Scripture Verse

Early will I seek Thee: my soul thirsteth for Thee, my flesh longeth for Thee in a dry and thirsty land. Psalm 63:1

Introduction

portrait
Isaac Watts (1674–1748)

Words: Is­aac Watts, The Psalms of Da­vid 1719. Seek­ing God.

Music: Leigh­ton (Great­or­ex) Hen­ry W. Great­or­ex, 1849 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tune:

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

Background

Charles H. Spur­geon, in com­ment­ing up­on this old tem­ple song of Da­vid, re­marks:

There is not a place be­neath which the be­liev­er walks that is free from dan­ger. Be­hind ev­ery tree there is…an ar­row barbed, be­hind ev­ery bush is the li­on seek­ing to de­vour, un­der ev­ery piece of grass there lies the ad­der.

Yet the Chris­tian work­er goes calm­ly on, know­ing that his Lord will di­rect his course; he fol­lows where his Fa­ther leads, and He di­rects his steps.

Arrows can­not pierce him, li­ons can­not de­vour him, ad­ders can­not in­jure him, un­less it is the di­vine will, and their bring­ing death to him would on­ly ush­er him in­to the pre­sence of his Lord, to go no more out for ev­er.

Robinson, p. 25

Lyrics

My God, per­mit my tongue
This joy, to call Thee mine;
And let my ear­ly cries pre­vail
To taste Thy love di­vine.

My thirs­ty, faint­ing soul
Thy mer­cy doth imp­lore;
Not trav­el­ers in des­ert lands
Can pant for wat­er more.

Within Thy church­es, Lord,
I long to find my place;
Thy pow­er and glo­ry to be­hold,
And feel Thy quick­en­ing grace.

For life with­out Thy love
No rel­ish can af­ford;
No joy can be com­pared to this,
To serve and please the Lord.

To Thee I’ll lift my hands,
And praise Thee while I live;
Not the rich dain­ties of a feast
Such food or plea­sure give.

In wake­ful hours at night
I call my God to mind;
I think how wise Thy coun­sels are,
And all Thy deal­ings kind.

Since thou hast been my help,
To Thee my spir­it flies,
And on Thy watch­ful pro­vi­dence
My cheer­ful hope re­lies.

The sha­dow of Thy wings
My soul in safe­ty keeps;
I follow where my Fa­ther leads,
And He sup­ports my steps.