James Montgomery

God Omnipresent and Omniscient -- Ps. cxxxix.

Searcher of hearts! to Thee are known

The inmost secrets of my breast

At home, abroad, in crowds, alone,

Thou mark'st my rising and my rest,

My thoughts far off, through every maze,

Source, stream, and issue, -- all my ways.

How from Thy presence should I go,

Or whither from Thy Spirit flee,

Since all above, around, below,

Exist in Thine immensity?

If up to heaven I take my way,

I meet Thee in eternal day.

If in the grave I make my bed

With worms and dust, lo! Thou art there;

If, on the wings of morning sped,

Beyond the ocean I repair,

I feel Thine all-controlling will,

And Thy right hand upholds me still.

"Let darkness hide me," If I say,

Darkness can no concealment be;

Night on Thy rising shines like day;

Darkness and light are one with Thee:

For Thou mine embryo-form didst view,

Ere her own babe my mother knew.

In me Thy workmanship display'd,

A miracle of power I stand,

Fearfully, wonderfully made,

And framed in secret by Thine hand:

I lived, ere into being brought,

Through Thine eternity of thought.

How precious are Thy thoughts of peace,

O God, to me! how great the sum!

New every morn, they never cease;

They were, they are, and yet shall come,

In number and in compass more

Than ocean's sands or ocean's shore.

Search me, O God! and know my heart;

Try me, my inmost soul survey;

And warn Thy servant to depart

From every false and evil way;

So shall Thy truth my guidance be

To life and immortality.