University of Virginia Library

Thou art my God; to Thee my eyes
I lift, e'er yet the dawn arise:
With sacred thirst, O Lord, I burn,
My Heart, my Flesh, thy absence mourn,
As o'er th' unhospitable way
Amidst a barren waste I stray,
Yet here, by heavn'ly Wisdom led,
Expectant wait, till o'er my head
Thy beams in mild effulgence play,
And turn my darkness into day;
Those beams which oft my eyes beheld
From Salem's hallow'd Shrine reveal'd.

Thy Love my lips shall ever tell,
(Can Life itself that Love excell?)
Nor cease, while breath prolongs my days,
In thankful notes the hymn to raise.
To Thee thy Servant, Lord, as now,
His hands shall rear, his knees shall bow.
For nought like this my soul can chear;
Nor marrow from the fatted steer
Could e'er to the luxurious sense
Such full delight, my God, dispense,
As what my satiate soul injoys,
Whene'er thy praise my tongue employs.
Thou Moon, be witness if my bed
Forgetful of my God I spread;
And Thou, revolving Sun, if e'er
I wake unconscious of his care.
Safe in the shadow of thy wings,
In Thee I joy, O King of Kings;
When dangers threaten to devour,
Superior to each adverse pow'r
Thy Arm extends the help divine,
And long Experience calls it mine.
Behold my foes in dread retire,
Or prostrate at my feet expire:
While to my conqu'ring sword they yield,
The Beasts that nightly range the field
Amid the slaughter'd heaps shall stray,
And rav'nous seize their licens'd prey.
By Thee exalted to the throne
Shall Judah's King thy mercies own;
And blest be Each, my God, whose tongue
With Him shall raise the grateful song,
Who suppliant at thy shrine shall kneel,
While shame the Lyar's lips shall seal.