1 Supreme of beings, with delight
Our eyes survey this heav’nly sight;
And trace with admiration sweet
The beaming splendors of Thy feet.
2 Jasper and sapphire strive in vain
To paint the glories of Thy train;
Thy robes all stream eternal light,
Too powerful for a cherub’s sight.
3 Yet round Thy throne the rainbow shines,
Fair emblem of Thy kind designs:
Bright pledge, that speaks Thy covenant sure
Long as Thy kingdom shall endure.
4 No more shall deluges of woe
Thy new-created world o’erflow;
Jesus, our sun, His beams displays,
And gilds the clouds with beauteous rays.
5 No gems so bright, no forms so fair;
Mercy and truth full triumph there:
Thy saints shall bless the peaceful sign,
When stars and suns forget to shine.
6 E’en here, while storms and gloomy shade
And horrors all the scene o’erspread,
Faith views the throne with piercing eye,
And boasts, the rainbow still is nigh.
Source: The Cyber Hymnal #11328
Philip Doddridge (b. London, England, 1702; d. Lisbon, Portugal, 1751) belonged to the Non-conformist Church (not associated with the Church of England). Its members were frequently the focus of discrimination. Offered an education by a rich patron to prepare him for ordination in the Church of England, Doddridge chose instead to remain in the Non-conformist Church. For twenty years he pastored a poor parish in Northampton, where he opened an academy for training Non-conformist ministers and taught most of the subjects himself. Doddridge suffered from tuberculosis, and when Lady Huntington, one of his patrons, offered to finance a trip to Lisbon for his health, he is reputed to have said, "I can as well go to heaven from Lisbon as from Nort… Go to person page >
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