Scripture Verse

The whole earth is full of His glory. Isaiah 6:3

Introduction

portrait
John Bowring
1792–1872
© National Portrait Gallery

Words: John Bow­ring, Ma­tins and Ves­pers, sec­ond ed­i­tion, 1824, page 243.

Music: Hes­per­us Hen­ry Bak­er, 1854. First pub­lished in A Hym­nal for Use in the Eng­lish Church, by John Grey, 1866 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Bak­er (head-and-shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els), would you ?

Lyrics

Father and friend! Thy light, Thy love,
Beaming through all Thy works we see;
Thy glory gilds the heavens above,
And all the earth is full of Thee.

Thy voice we hear—Thy presence feel,
While Thou, too pure for mortal sight,
Involved in clouds—invisible,
Reignest the Lord of life and light.

We know not in what hallowed part
Of the wide heavens Thy throne may be,
But this we know, that where Thou art,
Strength, wisdom, goodness dwell with Thee.

And through the various maze of time,
And through th’infinity of space,
We follow Thy career sublime,
And all Thy wondrous footsteps trace.

Thy children shall not faint nor fear,
Sustained by this delightful thought;
Since Thou, their God, art everywhere,
They cannot be where Thou art not.