Hymn to a Gracious Sovereign

O God the deep im­mu­ta­ble

The change­less

wise and still

You’re the ab­so­lute

eter­nal One;

You wield the sov­er­eign will.

Deep Heav’n it­self and ev­en time

Must bend be­neath your sway.

With a whis­pered thought you ban­ish night

In a flash of blind­ing day.

The seas are boun­da­ried by your word;

Great mount­ains heed your call.

Majestic swirls of ga­lax­ies

Adorn your roy­al hall.

The cen­tu­ries are lumps of clay

Shaped by your strength and skill.

You mold the long mil­len­nia

To the dic­tates of your will.

The bound­less

black-robed skies pro­claim

Your vast

as­ton­ish­ing might:

Their flam­ing jew­els re­joice for you

In si­lent shouts of light.

With sure and sov­er­eign strokes your hands

Finger the cos­mic strings

And play cel­es­ti­al sym­pho­nies

As all cre­ation sings.

And si­lent now

the an­gels stare;

Stunned ser­aphs blush

am­azed;

Great Mi­chael sheaths the sword that at

The Gate of Ed­en blazed.

Mighty Ga­bri­el sets his trump aside

And list­ens to his Lord

As Love in­com­pre­hen­si­ble

Enfleshes the Liv­ing Word.

Now space and time have cracked be­fore

The size of this ev­ent:

The God­head shud­ders as the

Glorious Son to Hell is sent.

Though Ve­ry God of Ve­ry God

He counts it all but loss

And comes and suf­fers as a man

From the man­ger to the Cross.