Scripture Verse

The voice of the Lord is upon the waters: the God of glory thundereth: the Lord is upon many waters. Psalm 29:3

Introduction

Words: John Need­ham, Hymns De­vo­tion­al and Mo­ral on Va­ri­ous Sub­jects (Bris­tol, Eng­land: S. Far­ley, 1768), num­ber 38.

Music: All­mäch­tig­er Gott Jo­hann Crü­ger, 1640 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Need­ham (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Johann Crüger (1598–1662)

Lyrics

Great is the Lord, His pow­er is great,
My tongue His migh­ty acts re­late:
Adore and fear the so­ve­reign Lord,
Who rules all na­ture by His word.

He speaks—the ga­ther­ing clouds ob­ey;
Thick dark­ness veils the face of day;
Swift light­nings burst the pit­chy cloud,
And aw­ful thun­ders roar aloud.

Roused at His call the winds awake,
And from their wings des­truc­tion shake;
With groans the bend­ing woods re­sound,
And cast their hon­ors to the ground.

On mount­ing waves the sail­ors rise,
They seem to touch the ve­ry skies;
Instant they plunge with dread­ful hiss,
O’erwhelmed and lost in the abyss.

Well may poor mor­tals fear and quake,
His voice makes hills and moun­tains shake:
Far o’er the land the bil­lows dash,
And ci­ties fall with hi­deous crash.

He speaks—the winds their fu­ry cease,
The rag­ing waves are hushed to peace,
Nature her calm­est look puts on,
Well pleased the sud­den night is gone.

Great is the Lord, His pow­er is great,
My tongue His migh­ty acts re­late:
Adore and fear the so­ve­reign Lord,
Who rules all na­ture by His word.