Thus far on life’s be­wil­der­ing path,
Thus far, Thou, Lord, our steps hast led;
Snatched from the world’s pur­su­ing wrath,
Unharmed, though floods hung o’er our head;
Like ran­somed Is­ra­el on the shore,
Here, then, we pause, look back, ad­ore.

Strangers and pil­grims here below,
Like all our fa­thers in their day,
We to the land of pro­mise go,
Lord, by Thine own ap­point­ed way:
Still guide, il­lum­ine, cheer our flight,
In cloud by day, in fire by night.

Safety Thy pre­sence is, and rest;
While—as the ea­gle, o’er her brood
Flutters her pin­ions, stirs the nest,
Covers, de­fends, pro­vides them food,
Bears on her wings, in­structs to fly—
Thy love pre­pares us for the sky.

Protect us through the wil­der­ness
From fie­ry tem­pest, plague, and foe;
With bread from Heav’n Thy peo­ple bless,
And liv­ing streams where’er we go:
Nor let our re­bel hearts re­pine,
Or fol­low any voice but Thine.

Thy ho­ly law to us pro­claim,
But not from Si­nai’s top alone;
Hid in the rock cleft, be Thy name,
Thy pow­er and all Thy good­ness shown;
And may we ne­ver bow the knee,
Or wor­ship any God but Thee.

When we have num­bered all our years,
And stand, at length, on Jordan’s brink,
Though the flesh fail with mor­tal fears,
O let not then the spir­it sink;
But, strong in faith, and hope, and love,
Plunge through the stream to rise above.