Nearer, My God, to Thee

Sarah Flower Adams, 1841 · Tune: BETHANY, Lowell Mason, 1856

1
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
E'en though it be a cross that raiseth me,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee;
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
2
Though like the wanderer, the sun gone down,
Darkness be over me, my rest a stone;
Yet in my dreams I'd be nearer, my God, to Thee;
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
3
There let the way appear, steps unto heav'n;
All that Thou sendest me, in mercy giv'n;
Angels to beckon me nearer, my God, to Thee;
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
4
Then, with my waking thoughts bright with Thy praise,
Out of my stony griefs Bethel I'll raise;
So by my woes to be nearer, my God, to Thee;
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!
5
Or if, on joyful wing cleaving the sky,
Sun, moon, and stars forgot, upward I fly,
Still all my song shall be, nearer, my God, to Thee;
Nearer, my God, to Thee, nearer to Thee!

Based on Jacob's dream at Bethel, Genesis 28:10–22. Public domain.