Where Dwellest Thou?—What Seek Ye?—Come and See
James Boyd
Where dwellest Thou—Thou whose unfathomed grace
Our souls with wondrous longings doth endow?
Bright visions of a purer brighter place
Before us rise—O say, Where dwellest Thou?
Where dwellest Thou? O Lord, hast Thou not said
Foxes have dens, and birds the forest bough,
But Thou hast not a place to lay Thy head?
Then tell us, Son of Man, Where dwellest Thou?
Where dwellest Thou? Fain would our eyes behold
Love-lighted courts where veiled seraphs bow,
Where shine the jasper and the burnished gold—
Is there Thy home? If not, Where dwellest Thou?
Where dwellest Thou? O be not in our sight
Like a wayfarer with forbidding brow,
That turns aside to tarry for a night,
And passes hence. O say, Where dwellest Thou?
Where dwellest Thou? Here weariness and woe,
Sorrows innumerable, griefs know;
But where Thou dwellest every heart must know
Eternal pleasures—Lord, Where dwellest Thou?
What seek ye? Is it silver? Is it gold?
To gain such things ’twere vain to follow Me.
My abject poverty your eyes behold,
Way-worn and travel-tainted—What seek ye?
What seek ye? Is it concert with the great—
With princess proud—with men of high degree?
Companionship with empty minds that prate
Of lineage illustrious? What seek ye?
What seek ye? Is it pleasure? Is it power?
Wisdom? or folly? riches? gaiety?
With pleasure would ye fill the present hour,
The life to come forgetting? What seek ye?
What seek ye? Is it life beyond the grave?
Honour and incorruptibility?
Is it a sight of the Unseen ye crave?
What is it that ye covet? What seek ye?
What seek ye? Is it God the Father’s face?
Would ye within His presence bend the knee
Where shines the glory of eternal grace
And seraphs veil their faces? What seek ye?
If ye would know the place where I abide,
This world forsake, and follow after Me;
Thither shall I be your unerring Guide,
And there a welcome waits you—Come and see.
How could the splendour of the place be told?
How could its secrets be set forth that ye
Might understand? Its glories multifold
Baffle description—ye must Come and see.
Its brightness from the denizens of earth
Must while this world continues curtained be
Known only unto men of heavenly birth
Are all its wonders—therefore, Come and see.
The Father’s bosom! Who could this dilate?
Who could the fringe of such felicity,
Such joys immortal, matchless, increate,
Reach by a flight of fancy?—Come and see.
O come and see, for I so long to take
Companions to those courts along with Me
Where from each overflowing heart shall break
Eternal praises—Come, O come and see.