1 Since o'er thy footstool here below
Such radiant gems are strown,
Oh, what magnificence must glow,
Great God, about thy throne!
So brilliant here these drops of light;
There the full ocean rolls, how bright!
2 If night's blue curtain of the sky,--
With thousand stars inwrought,
Hung like a royal canopy
With glittering diamonds fraught,--
Be, Lord, thy temple's outer vail,
What splendor at the shrine must dwell!
3 The dazzling sun at noonday hour,--
Forth from his flaming vase
Flinging o'er earth the golden shower
Till vale and mountain blaze,--
But shows, O Lord, one beam of thine;
What, then, the day where thou dost shine?
4 Oh, how shall these dim eyes endure
That noon of living rays!
Or how our spirits, so impure,
Upon thy glory gaze!
Anoint, O Lord, anoint our sight,
And fit us for that world of light.
Source: The Voice of Praise: a collection of hymns for the use of the Methodist Church #943