Eternal God, our wondering souls
Admire Thy matchless grace;
That Thou wilt walk, that thou wilt dwell,
With Adam’s worthless race.
O lead me to that happy path,
Where I my God may meet;
Tho’ hosts of foes begird it round,
Tho’ briars wound my feet.
Cheer’d with Thy converse, I can trace
The desert with delight
Thro’ all the gloom one smile of Thine
Can dissipate the night.
Nor shall I thro’ eternal days
A restless pilgrim roam;
Thy hand, that now directs my course,
Shall soon convey me home.
I ask not Enoch’s rapt’rous flight
To realms of heav’nly day;
Nor seek Elijah’s fiery steeds
To bear this flesh away.
Joyful my spirit will content
To drop its mortal load;
And hail the sharpest pangs of death,
That break its ways to God.
Enoch’s Piety and Translation (Genesis 5:24; Hebrews 11:5)
-Philip Doddridge, Published 1755. Republished in The Hymns of Philip Doddridge, compiled by Graham C. Ashworth. Reformation Heritage Books, 2010. (hymn 1)