HOW SHALL I SING THAT MAJESTY

 A HYMN FOR CHRIST THE KING

By John Mason, 1645-94

 

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?

 

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.

 

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.

 

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.