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Hymnals of the Stone-Campbell Movement

Enos E. Dowling Hymnal Collection

Hymn: Father of spirits nature's God (FL)

Hymnal: The Christian Hymnal

Date: 1871

Compiler: Under direction of the Christian Hymn-Book Committee

Publisher/Printer: Bosworth Chase & Hall

First Line: Father of spirits nature's God

Topic: God/His Being and Perfection

Writer: <no first name given> <no last name given>

Composer: Haydn

Meter: LM

Tune: Beethoven

Hymn Number: 18

Page Number: 011, click to see hymnal pages

Lyics

Father of spirits! nature's God!

Our inmost thoughts are known to thee;

Thou, Lord, canst hear each idle word,

And every private action see.



Could we, on morning's swiftest wings,

Pursue our flight thro' trackless air,

Or dive beneath deep ocean's springs,

Thy presence still would meet us there.



In vain may guilt attempt to fly,

Concealed beneath the pall of night:

One glance from thy all-piercing eye

Can kindle darkness into light.



Search thou our hearts, and there destroy

Each evil thought, each secret sin,

And fit us for those realms of joy

Where naught impure shall enter in.