O Lord, My God, Most Earnestly
Psalm 63

Thomas Tallis, 1567.
From the Cantus Christi.

O Lord, my God, most earnestly
I seek Your holy face,
Within Your house again to see
the glories of your grace.
Apart from You I long and thirst
and naught can satisfy,
I wander in a desert land
where all the streams are dry.

The lovingkindness of my God
is more than life to me,
So I will praise You all my days
and pray continually.
In you my soul is satisfied,
my darkness turns to light,
and joyful meditations fill
the watches of the night.

Beneath the shadow of Your wings
I sing my joy and praise.
Your right hand is my strong support
through troubled nights and days.
All those who seek my life will fall;
my life is in Your hand.
God's king and people will rejoice;
in vict'ry they will stand.

"And from the foremost ranks as they drew nigh
Rang such Hosannas that the ache to hear
Those songs again will haunt me till I die."

Canto VIII, Line 28, Paradiso