Scripture Verse

He commanded, and they were created. Psalm 148:5

Introduction

Words: John Ster­ling, 1840.

Music: St. Alk­mund Ea­sy Mu­sic for Church Choirs, 1853 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

O source di­vine, and life of all,
The fount of be­ing’s won­drous sea!
Thy depth would ev­ery heart ap­pall
That saw not love su­preme in Thee.

We shrink be­fore Thy vast ab­yss,
Where worlds on worlds eter­nal brood:
We know Thee tru­ly but in this—
That Thou be­stow­est all our good.

And so, ’mid bound­less time and space,
O grant us still in Thee to dwell,
And through the cease­less web to trace
Thy pre­sence work­ing all things well.

Nor let Thou life’s de­light­ful play
Thy truth’s trans­cend­ent vi­sion hide;
Nor strength and glad­ness lead as­tray
From Thee, our na­ture’s on­ly guide.

Bestow on ev­ery joy­ous thrill
Thy deep­er tones of rev­er­ent awe:
Make pure Thy child­ren’s err­ing will,
And teach their hearts to love Thy law.