Who dares at­tempt th’eter­nal Name
With notes of mor­tal sound?
Dangers and glo­ries guard the theme,
And spread des­pair around.

Destruction waits t’ob­ey His frown,
And Heav’n at­tends His smile;
A wreath of lightn­ing arms His crown,
But love adorns it still.

Celestial King, our spir­its lie
Trembling be­neath Thy feet,
And wish, and cast a long­ing eye,
To reach Thy lof­ty seat.

When shall we see the great Un­known,
And in Thy pre­sence stand?
Reveal the splen­dors of Thy throne,
But shield us with Thy hand.

In Thee what end­less won­ders meet!
What va­ri­ous glo­ry shines!
The cross­ing rays too fierce­ly beat
Upon our faint­ing minds.

Angels are lost in sweet sur­prise
If Thou un­veil Thy grace;
And hum­ble awe runs thro’ the Skies,
When wrath ar­rays Thy face.

When mer­cy joins with ma­jes­ty
To spread their beams abroad,
Not all the fair­est minds on high
Are shadows of a God.

Thy works the strong­est se­raph sings
In far too fee­ble strain.
And la­bors hard on all his strings
To reach Thy thoughts in vain.

Created pow­ers, how weak they be!
How short our prais­es fall!
So much akin to no­thing we,
And Thou th’eter­nal All.