Scripture Verse

This is the gate of Heaven. Genesis 28:17

Introduction

Words: Ame Ven­ne­ma, in Gos­pel Prais­es No. 2, by Will­iam J. Kirk­pat­rick & Hen­ry L. Gil­mour (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: Hall-Mack, cir­ca 1900), num­ber 54. The song was de­di­cat­ed to The Qui­et Hour, Y.P.S.C.E. [Young Peo­ple’s So­ci­ety of Chris­tian En­dea­vour].

Music: B. Frank­lin Butts (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
Ame Vennema (1857–1925)

Lyrics

Alone with God, my Fa­ther,
In the sec­ret place of pray­er,
Not a thought, or wish, or pur­pose I with­hold;
I com­mune with Him most free­ly,
And my in­most soul lay bare,
And lin­ger till I feel His love en­fold.

Refrain

’Tis a Beth­el sweet, wher­ev­er thus we meet,
’Tis the very gate of Hea­ven to my soul;
The face of Him who made my spir­it whole.

Alone with Christ, my Sav­ior,
In the de­sert-place apart,
There my wea­ry soul finds rest from cum­b’ring care,
And I feel a twi­light still­ness
Fall up­on my trou­bled heart,
As Je­sus gent­ly whis­pers to me there.

Refrain

Alone with God, the Spir­it,
Blessèd Pa­ra­clete di­vine,
Who in my be­half for­ev­er in­ter­cedes;
It is He who keeps me walk­ing,
Making Je­sus’ foot­steps mine,
With all-suf­fi­cient grace to meet my needs.

Refrain