Great God! thy glories

Isaac Watts wrote this common meter hymn on God’s divine perfections circa 1707. It has been paired with Edward Collier’s Marchfield, as well as other tunes.

1. Great God! thy glories shall employ

My holy fear, my humble joy;

My lips in songs of honor bring

Their tribute to th’ eternal King.

2. Earth, and the stars, and worlds unknown,

Depend precarious on his throne;

All nature hangs upon his word,

And grace and glory own their Lord.

3. His sovereign power what mortal knows?

If be command, who dares oppose?

With strength he girds himself around,

And treads the rebels to the ground.

4. Who shall pretend to teach him skill,

Or guide the counsels of his will?

His wisdom, like a sea divine,

Flows deep and high beyond our line.

5. His name is holy, and his eye

Burns with immortal jealousy

He hates the sons of pride, and sheds

His fiery vengeance on their heads.

6. The beamings of his piercing sight

Bring dark hypocrisy to light;

Death and destruction naked lie,

And hell uncovered to his eye.

7. Th’ eternal law before him stands;

His justice, with impartial hands,

Divides to all their due reward,

Or by the sceptre or the sword.

8. His mercy, like a boundless sea,

Washes our load of guilt away;

While his own Son came down and died

T’ engage his justice on our side.

9. Each of his words demands my faith;

My soul can rest on all he saith;

His truth inviolably keeps

The largest promise of his lips.

10. O tell me, with a gentle voice,

“Thou art my God,” and I’ll rejoice!

Filled with thy love, I dare proclaim

The brightest honors of thy name.