Lord, Thou Hast Searched Me from Psalm 139 The Psalter, 1912

PUER NOBIS NASCITUR (L.M.) Michael Praetorius (1571-1621)

Lord, Thou has searched me, and dost know
   Wher-e'er I rest, wher-e'er I go;
Thou know-est all that I have planned,
   And all my ways are in Thy hand.

My words from Thee I can-not hide;
   I feel Thy power on ev-ery side;
O won-drous know-ledge, awe-some might
   Un-fath-omed depth, un-mea-sured height!

Where can I go a-part from Thee,
   Or whith-er from Thy pres-ence flee?
In heaven? --it is Thy dwell-ing fair;
   In death's a-bode? --lo, Thou art there.

If I the wings of morn-ing take,
   And far a-way my dwell-ing make,
The hand that lead-eth me is Thine,
   And my sup-port Thy power di-vine.

If deep-est dark-ness cov-er me,
   The dark-ness hid-eth not from Thee;
To Thee both night and day are bright,
   The dark-ness shin-eth as the light.

All that I am I owe to Thee;
   Thy wis-dom, Lord, has fash-ioned me.
I give my Mak-er thank-ful praise,
   Whose won-drous works my soul a-maze.

Ere in-to be-ing I was brought,
   Thine eye did see, and in my thought
My life in all its per-fect plan
   Was or-dered ere my days be-gan.

Thy thoughts, O God, how man-i-fold,
   More pre-cious un-to me than gold!
I muse on their in-fin-i-ty,
   A-wak-ing I am still with Thee.

The wick-ed Thou wilt sure-ly slay;
   From me let sin-ners turn a-way.
They speak a-gainst the name di-vine;
   I count God's en-e-mies as mine.

Search me, O God, my heart dis-cern;
   Try me, my in-most thought to learn;
And lead me, if in sin I stray,
   To choose the ev-er-last-ing way.