Thou knowest my downsitting and mine uprising, Thou understandest my thought afar off.
Psalm 139:2
Words: From A New Version of the Psalms of David, by Nahum Tate & Nicholas Brady, 1696.
Music: Domine Probasti Alfred Pettet, in Original Sacred Music, 1826 (🔊 pdf nwc).
Alternate Tunes:
If you know where to get a good picture of Brady or Pettet (head-and-shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels), would you ?
Thou, Lord, by strictest search hast known
My rising up and lying down;
My secret thoughts are known to Thee,
Known long before conceived by me.
Thine eye my bed and path surveys,
My public haunts and private ways,
Thou know’st what ’tis my lips would vent,
My yet unuttered word’s intent.
Surrounded by Thy power I stand,
On every side I find Thy hand;
O skill, for human reach too high!
Too dazzling bright for mortal eye!
Search, try, O God, my thought and heart,
If mischief lurks in any part;
Correct me where I go astray,
And guide me in Thy perfect way.