Scripture Verse

God said…and it was so. Genesis 1:9

Introduction

portrait
Charles Coffin (1676–1749)

Words: Charles Cof­fin, Pa­ris Bre­vi­ary 1736 (Re­bus cre­atis nil eg­ens). Trans­lat­ed from La­tin to Eng­lish by the com­pil­ers of Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern in their Sup­ple­men­tal Hymns, 1889.

Music: Sty­all Will­iam Sta­tham, in Hymns An­cient and Mo­dern, 1889 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

O God, the joy of Heav’n above,
Thou didst not need Thy crea­tures’ love,
When from Thy sec­ret place of rest
Thy Word the earth’s foun­da­tions blest.

Thou spak­est: worlds be­gan to be;
They bow be­fore Thy ma­jes­ty;
And all to their cre­at­or raise
A won­drous har­mo­ny of praise.

But ere, O Lord, this love­ly earth
From Thy cre­at­ive will had birth,
Thou in Thy coun­sels didst un­fold
Another world of fair­er mold.

That realm shall our Re­deem­er frame,
And build up­on His migh­ty name;
His hand the word of pow­er shall sow,
That all the earth His truth may know.

When time it­self has passed away,
His Church, se­cure in Heav’n for aye,
Shall share His table and His throne,
And God the Fa­ther reign alone.

O Fa­ther, Son, and Spir­it blest,
One God in Heav’n and earth con­fessed,
Preserve, di­rect, and fill with love
Thy realm on earth, Thy realm above.