Nearer, my God, to Thee

General information

Lyricist Sarah Flower Adams. Published in Hymns and Anthems, by William Johnson Fox, 1841.

Settings by composers

• Darrell Crowther SATB
• John Bacchus Dykes SATB
• Lowell Mason SATB
• Arthur Sullivan SATB
• Samuel Sebastian Wesley SATB

Text and translations

English text

1  Nearer, my God, to Thee,  Nearer to Thee!  E'en though it be a cross  That raiseth me,  Still all my song would be,  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 to Thee.

3  There let my way appear  Steps into heaven,  All that Thou send'st to me  In mercy given,  Angels to beckon me  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 to Thee.

5  Or if on joyful wing  Cleaving the sky,  Sun, moon and stars forgot,  Upwards I fly,  Still all my song shall be,  Nearer, my God, to Thee,  Nearer to Thee.