Classic Poem

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.

No word that from my mouth proceeds,
Evil or good, escapes thine ear;
Witness Thou art to all my deeds,
Before, behind, for ever near:
Such knowledge is for me too high;
I live but in my Maker's eye.

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 embyro-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 thy 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 sand, or ocean's shore.

Search me, O God! and know my heart;
Try me, my secret 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.