Close Now Thine Eyes - Shenandoah Christian Music Camp

7,590 views • Oct 31, 2022

Description

"Close Now Thine Eyes" composed by Daniel E. Gawthrop. Sung at the 15th Annual Choral Festival 2022 of Shenandoah Christian Music Camp (VA). Conducted by Brandon Mullet.
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The Historic Faith · Hymn Companion

Close Now Thine Eyes

Words by Jeremy TaylorMusic by Daniel E. Gawthrop

Close now thine eyes and rest secure;
Thy soul is safe enough, thy body sure;
He that loves thee, he that keeps
And guards thee, never slumbers, never sleeps.

The smiling conscience in a sleeping breast
Has only peace, has only rest:
The music and the mirth of kings
Are out of tune, unless she sings.

Then close thine eyes in peace, and sleep secure;
No sleep so sweet as thine, no rest so sure.

Story Behind the Song

The words are an old Anglican evening text by Jeremy Taylor, the 17th-century bishop and devotional writer, commonly associated with his devotional manual The Golden Grove. Daniel E. Gawthrop later made a modern choral setting of the text under the title Close Now Thine Eyes. The poem functions as a bedtime or evening prayer, drawing especially on the biblical assurance that God neither slumbers nor sleeps.

Scripture

Psalm 121:3-4