How Shall I Sing That Majesty

Verse 1

How shall I sing that majesty which angels do admire? Let dust in dust and silence lie; sing, sing, ye heavenly choir. Thousands of thousands stand around thy throne, O God most high; ten thousand times ten thousand sound thy praise; but who am I?

Verse 2

Thy brightness unto them appears, whilst I thy footsteps trace; a sound of God comes to my ears, but they behold thy face. They sing, because thou art their Sun; Lord, send a beam on me; for where heaven is but once begun there alleluias be.

Verse 3

Enlighten with faith's light my heart, inflame it with love's fire; then shall I sing and bear a part with that celestial choir. I shall, I fear, be dark and cold, with all my fire and light; yet when thou dost accept their gold, Lord, treasure up my mite.

Verse 4

How great a being, Lord, is thine, which doth all beings keep! Thy knowledge is the only line to sound so vast a deep. Thou art a sea without a shore, a sun without a sphere; thy time is now and evermore, thy place is everywhere.