Unchangeable all-perfect Lord

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Unchangeable all-perfect Lord

Translator: John Wesley; Author: Ernst Lange
Tune: GERMANY (Gardiner)
Published in 15 hymnals

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Representative Text

Unchangeable, all-perfect Lord!
Essential life’s unbounded sea!
What lives and moves, lives by Thy word;
It lives and moves and is, from Thee!
Whate’er in earth, or sea, or sky,
Or shuns, or meets, the wandering thought,
Escapes, or strikes, the searching eye,
By Thee was to existence brought.

High is Thy power above all height,
Whate’er Thy will decrees is done;
Thy wisdom, holiness and might
Can by no finite mind be known.
What our dim eyes could never see,
Is plain and naked in Thy sight;
What thickest darkness veils, to Thee
Shines clearly as the morning light;

Thine, Lord, is holiness, alone:
Justice and Truth before Thee stand:
Yet, nearer to Thy sacred throne,
Love ever dwells at Thy right hand.
And to Thy love and ceaseless care,
Father! this light, this breath, we owe;
And all we have, and all we are
From Thee, great Source of Life! doth flow.

Source: A Book of Hymns for Public and Private Devotion (15th ed.) #71

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Translator: John Wesley

John Wesley, the son of Samuel, and brother of Charles Wesley, was born at Epworth, June 17, 1703. He was educated at the Charterhouse, London, and at Christ Church, Oxford. He became a Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford, and graduated M.A. in 1726. At Oxford, he was one of the small band consisting of George Whitefield, Hames Hervey, Charles Wesley, and a few others, who were even then known for their piety; they were deridingly called "Methodists." After his ordination he went, in 1735, on a mission to Georgia. The mission was not successful, and he returned to England in 1738. From that time, his life was one of great labour, preaching the Gospel, and publishing his commentaries and other theological works. He died in London, in 17… Go to person page >

Author: Ernst Lange

Lange, Ernst, was born at Danzig, Jan. 3, 1650, where his father, Matthias Lange, was in the service of the Senate. He was for some time secretary in Danzig, and thereafter in Warsaw. In 1691 he was appointed judge in the Altstadt of Danzig, and in 1694 senator. He died at Danzig, Aug. 20, 1727 (Bode, p. 103; Allegemeine Deutsche Biographie, xvii. 623, &c). After a visit to the Netherlands in 1698, Lange allied himself with the Mennonites and Pietists in Danzig, and came into conflict with the Lutheran clergy. His hymns were mostly written about the time when the pestilence visited Danzig, in 1710, and principally appeared in his LXI. Gott geheiligte Stunden, without place or date of publication., but probably at Danzig, 1711 (Preface dated… Go to person page >

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