1 Lord, thou hast search'd and seen me thro'; Thine eye commands with piercing view My rising and my resting hours, My heart and flesh with all their powers. 2 My thoughts, before they are my own, Are to my God distinctly known; He knows the words I mean to speak Ere from my opening lips they break. 3 Within thy circling power I stand; On every side I find thy hand: Awake, asleep, at home, abroad, I am surrounded still with God. 4 Amazing knowledge, vast and great! What large extent! what lofty height! My soul, with all the powers I boast, Is in the boundless prospect lost. 5 "O may these thoughts possess my breast, "Where'er I rove where'er I rest! "Nor let my weaker passions dare "Consent to sin, for God is there." PAUSE I. 6 Could I so false, so faithless prove, To quit thy service and thy love, Where, Lord, could I thy presence shun, Or from thy dreadful glory run? 7 If up to heaven I take my flight, 'Tis there thou dwell'st enthron'd in light; Or dive to hell, there vengeance reigns, And Satan groans beneath thy chains. 8 If mounted on a morning ray, I fly beyond the western sea, Thy swifter hand would first arrive, And there arrest thy fugitive. 9 Or should I try to shun thy sight Beneath the spreading veil of night, One glance of thine, one piercing ray, Would kindle darkness into day. 10 "O may these thoughts possess my breast, "Where'er I rove, where'er I rest! "Nor let my weaker passions dare "Consent to sin, for God is there." PAUSE II. 11 The veil of night is no disguise, No screen from thy all-searching eyes; Thy hand can seize thy foes as soon, Thro' midnight shades as blazing noon. 12 Midnight and noon in this agree, Great God, they're both alike to thee: Not death can hide what God will spy, And hell lies naked to his eye. 13 "O may these thoughts possess my breast, "Where'er I rove where'er I rest! "Nor let my weaker passions dare "Consent to sin, for God is there." Psalm 139:2. Second Part. L. M. The wonderful formation of man. 1 'Twas from thy hand, my God, I came, A work of such a curious frame; In me thy fearful wonders shine, And each proclaims thy skill divine. 2 Thine eyes did all my limbs survey, Which yet in dark confusion lay; Thou saw'st the daily growth they took, Form'd by the model of thy book. 3 By thee my growing parts were nam'd, And what thy sovereign counsels fram'd, (The breathing lungs, the beating heart) Was copy'd with unerring art. 4 At last, to shew my Maker's name, God stamp'd his image on my frame, And in some unknown moment join'd The finish'd members to the mind. 5 There the young seeds of thought began And all the passions of the man: Great God, our infant nature pays Immortal tribute to thy praise. PAUSE. 6 Lord, since in my advancing age I've acted on life's busy stage, Thy thoughts of love to me surmount The power of numbers to recount.