The New English Hymnal ‎#373

373. How shall I sing that majesty

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 alleluyas 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.

Text Information

• First Line: How shall I sing that majesty
• Author: John Mason, c. 1645-1694
• Meter: DCM
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1986
• Topic: Trinity Sunday
• Notes: Alternative tune KINGSFOLD 376

Tune Information

• Name: THIRD MODE MELODY
• Composer: Thomas Tallis, 1515-85
• Transposer: R. V. W.
• Meter: DCM
• Key: c minor
• Source: Parker's The Whole Psalter
• Copyright: Arr. By permission of Oxford University Press