O Lord, Thy All Discerning Eyes

O Lord, Thy all discerning eyes
My inmost purpose see;
My deeds, my words, my thoughts, arise
Alike disclosed to Thee:
My sitting down, my rising up,
Broad noon, and deepest night,
My path, my pillow, and my cup,
Are open to Thy sight.

Before, behind, I meet Thine eye,
And feel Thy heavy hand:
Such knowledge is for me too high,
To reach or understand:
What of Thy wonders can I know?
What of Thy purpose see?
Where from Thy Spirit shall I go?
Where from Thy presence flee?

If I ascend to heaven on high,
Or make my bed in hell;
Or take the morning’s wings, and fly
O’er ocean’s bounds to dwell;
Or seek, from Thee, a hiding place
Amid the gloom of night—
Alike to Thee are time and space,
The darkness and the light.

Author: James Montgomery

Year: 1825

This is a metrical paraphrase of Psalm 139. James Montgomery published it in his 1825 collection "The Christian Psalmist". Some hymnals attribute it simply as "Montgomery" or note minor alterations by others, but Montgomery is the primary author.