Scripture Verse

The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. Psalm 19:1

Introduction

portrait
John B. Dykes
1823–1876

Words: Is­aac Watts, Ho­ræ Ly­ri­cæ, Book 1, 1706, pag­es 16–17.

Music: Be­a­ti­tu­do John B. Dykes, in Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, 1875 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Isaac Watts
1674–1748

Lyrics

Father, how wide Thy glories shine!
How high Thy wonders rise!
Known through the earth by thousand signs,
By thousand through the skies.

Those mighty orbs proclaim Thy power,
Their motions speak Thy skill,
And on the wings of every hour
We read Thy patience still.

Part of thy Name divinely stands
On all Thy creatures writ,
They show the labor of Thine hands,
Or impress of Thy feet.

But when we view Thy strange design
To save rebellious worms,
Where vengeance and compassion join
In their divinest forms;

Our thoughts are lost in reverent awe;
We love and we adore;
The first archangel never saw
So much of God before.

Here the whole Deity is known,
Nor dares a creature guess
Which of the glories brightest shone,
The justice or the grace.

When sinners broke the Father’s laws,
The dying Son atones;
Oh the dear mysteries of His cross!
The triumph of His groans!

Now the full glories of the Lamb
Adorn the heav’nly plains;
Sweet cherubs learn Immanuel’s name,
And try their choicest strains.

O may I bear some humble part
In that immortal song!
Wonder and joy shall tune my heart,
And love command my tongue.