Fix'd on this ground would I remain, Though my heart fail and flesh decay; This anchor shall my soul sustain, When earth's foundations melt away: Mercy's full power I then shall prove, Loved with an everlasting love. O LORD, WHO IS LIKE UNTO THEE! OH God, of good th' unfathom'd sea! Who would not love Thee with his might, O Jesu, Lover of mankind? Who would not his whole soul and mind, Thou shin'st with everlasting rays; Angels with both wings veil their eyes; Yet, free as air Thy bounty streams Astonish'd at Thy frowning brow, Earth, hell, and heaven's strong pillars bow; Terrible majesty is Thine! Who then can that vast love express, Which bows Thee down to me, who less Than nothing am, till Thou art mine! High thron'd on heaven's eternal hill, Fountain of Good, all blessing flows Thou dost desire my worthless heart; Primeval Beauty! in Thy sight, See all their brightest glories fade: What then to me Thine eyes could turn? In sin conceived, of woman born, A worm, a leaf, a blast, a shade! Hell's armies tremble at Thy nod, 'Tis God made man, for man to die. O God, of good th' unfathom'd Sea! Who would not love Thee with his might, O Jesu, Lover of mankind? Who would not his whole soul and mind, With all his strength, to Thee unite? "BEHOLDING AS IN A GLASS THE GLORY OF THE Thy like nor man nor angel knows, Fairest among ten thousand fair! Even those whom death's sad fetters bound, Effulgence of the light divine, E're rolling planets knew to shine, E're time its ceaseless course began, Thou, when the appointed hour was come, Didst not abhor the Virgin's womb, But, God with God, wert man with man. The world, sin, death, oppose in vain, None can withstand Thy conqu'ring blood. |