The Rock That Is Higher Than I

Top Media Text Author Text Info Tune Timeline Page Scans Instances

O sometimes the shadows are deep

Author: Erastus Johnson
Tune: [O sometimes the shadows are deep] (Fischer)
Published in 281 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI, Recording

Representative Text

1 O sometimes the shadows are deep,
And rough seems the path to the goal,
And sorrows, sometimes how they sweep
Like tempests down over the soul!

Refrain:
O then to the Rock let me fly,
To the Rock that is higher than I;
O then to the Rock let me fly,
To the Rock that is higher than I!

2 O sometimes how long seems the day,
And sometimes how weary my feet;
But toiling in life's dusty way,
The Rock's blessed shadow, how sweet! [Refrain]

3 O near to the Rock let me keep
If blessings or sorrow prevail,
Or climbing the mountain way steep,
Or walking the shadowy vale. [Refrain]

Source: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #431

All representative texts • Compare texts ^ top

Author: Erastus Johnson

Johnson, Erastus. (April 20, 1826--June 16, 1909, Waltham, Massachusetts). This man whose life was singularly active and varied was born in a logging camp at Lincoln, Maine. He was buried in Jackson, Maine. He entered the Academy at Calais, Maine, at the age of fifteen, spent two years there, taught school for the next six, and then entered Bangor Theological Seminary. His health failed, and, threatened with the loss of his sight, was compelled to give up preparation for the ministry. On the advice of his physician he took a sea voyage, embarging on the ship Gold Hunter en route from New York to California. The crew of the ship mutinied just before rounding Cape Horn and as Johnson was the only person on board who knew anything about naviga… Go to person page >

^ top

First Line:	O sometimes the shadows are deep
Title:	The Rock That Is Higher Than I
Author:	Erastus Johnson
Language:	English
Refrain First Line:	O then to the Rock let me fly
Copyright:	Public Domain