You, O Lord, reign forever; Your throne endures from generation to generation.
Lamentations 5:19
Words: Isaac Watts, Hymns and Spiritual Songs 1707–09, Book 2, number 67. God’s eternal dominion.
Music: Windsor Christopher Tye, 1533. Arranged in the Booke of Musicke, by William Daman, 1591 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know where to get a good picture of Tye (head-and-shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels), would you ?
Great God, how infinite art Thou!
What worthless worms are we!
Let the whole race of creatures bow,
And pay their praise to Thee.
Thy throne eternal ages stood,
Ere seas or stars were made:
Thou art the ever living God,
Were all the nations dead.
Nature and time quite naked lie
To Thine immense survey,
From the formation of the sky
To the great burning day.
Eternity, with all its years,
Stands present in Thy view;
To Thee there’s nothing old appears;
Great God! There’s nothing new.
Our lives through various scenes are drawn,
And vexed with trifling cares;
While Thine eternal thought moves on
Thine undisturbed affairs.
Great God, how infinite art Thou!
What worthless worms are we!
Let the whole race of creatures bow,
And pay their praise to Thee.