Scripture Verse

He will be our guide even to the end. Psalm 48:14

Introduction

portrait
Robert A. Jennings, Jr. (1859–1931)

Words: E. H. Whit­man, in Help­ful Gos­pel Songs, ed­it­ed by F. A. En­slow, Ro­bert A. Jen­nings & F. Le­roy Ens­low (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia; Chi­ca­go, Il­li­nois; and Si­lo­am Springs, Ar­kan­sas: Praise Pub­lish­ing, 1908), num­ber 27.

Music: Cher­ka­sy Ro­bert A. Jen­nings, Jr. (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Whit­man’s full name, or where to get a good pho­to of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

The way is dark with low­er­ing clouds o’er­head,
And threat­en­ing dan­gers lie on ei­ther side.
The pre­sent step alone I see to tread;
O Light of life, be Thou my con­stant guide.

I am not wise, and know not what to do,
Nor how to toil ac­cept­ab­ly for Thee;
While will­ing learn­ers of Thy work are few,
O Thou om­nis­ci­ent One, my teach­er be.

The time is short, so much re­mains to do,
So much is lost by those who miss the way.
Since I may wan­der from the high­way, too,
Guide my im­per­iled soul through time’s short day.

One way alone I know leads home to Thee,
While wan­der­ing paths di­verge from ei­ther side.
I would not miss the bliss­ful com­pa­ny,
And wel­come of the crowned and glo­ri­fied.

O Is­ra­el’s God and mine amid the night,
The ig­nor­ance that mars my work for Thee.
In time’s short day along the way of light,
Be Thou my guide unto eter­ni­ty.