a Hymn Devotion for 1st Sunday after Easter,
27 April 2025 Anno Domini,
the Anglican Orthodox Communion Worldwide
“For thou art great, and doest wondrous things: thou art God alone.” (Psalms 86:10)
A lovely old hymn of praise written, at the time, by an Anglican minister named Frederick William Faber in 1848. He left the faith for Roman Catholicism with John Henry Newman but still advocated the Reformation hymns as well as those of men such as John Newton and Charles Wesley. The tune referenced in the hymnal is Windsor composed by Christopher Tye and beloved by Robert Burns. Mr. Faber is also the author of that old classic hymn, Faith of our Fathers.
Click link to listen and watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrpQab9C_F4
MY GOD, HOW WONDERFUL THOU ART
1 My God, how wonderful Thou art,
Thy majesty how bright,
How beautiful Thy mercy seat,
in depths of burning light!
2 How dread are Thine eternal years,
O everlasting LORD;
by prostrate spirits, day and night,
incessantly adored.
3 How wonderful, how beautiful,
the sight of Thee must be,
Thine endless wisdom, boundless pow’r,
and awful purity.
4 O how I fear Thee, Living God,
with deepest, tend’rest fears,
and worship Thee with trembling hope,
and penitential tears.
5 Yet I may love Thee too, O LORD,
Almighty as Thou art;
for Thou hast stooped to ask of me
the love of my poor heart.
1 My God, how wonderful Thou art, Thy majesty how bright, How beautiful Thy mercy seat, in depths of burning light! When we consider God and His amazing works, we must stand in awe of His wondrous works; and not only those works, but the Mighty Personage who created those natural wonders. Beyond all others of His wonders is the great grace with which He has loved us and called us to His Throne of Mercy. John the Baptist was a burning light, but the Lord Jesus Christ is the Light by which all darkness is dispersed.
2 How dread are Thine eternal years, O everlasting LORD; by prostrate spirits, day and night, incessantly adored. “It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” (Hebrews 10:31) The eternal years of the Lord are only fearful to the unredeemed and the un-elect of the Lord. It is a matter of immeasurable hope and joy to consider the eternity future spent on high with bliss and unrestrained joy. The only acceptable manner in which to approach and worship the Lord is in complete prostration for we are lowly creatures and the clay of His artful Hand.
3 How wonderful, how beautiful, the sight of Thee must be, Thine endless wisdom, boundless pow’r, and awful purity. We certainly have a glimpse of His beauty in the majestic mountain views and crystal streams of His rivers. He does all things well and is the Artist of all wonder and glory. His is not merely endless – it is infinite for He is the epitome of wisdom and the generator of Life and Light. Because He is the very essence of purity, He will not brood any sinful nature among His people. It is for that purpose that He has sent His Son to redeem us and to stand as our righteousness before the Judge of the World.
4 O how I fear Thee, Living God, with deepest, tend’rest fears, and worship Thee with trembling hope, and penitential tears. The believer only fears God in the same sense that a child fears his loving father. He knows that his father will not destroy him even if he does chastise. His fear of the Lord is more based upon the dread and pain of bringing shame upon the Lord’s name in his actions. It is the mortal fear of the unredeemed that is the beginning of wisdom. “The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.” (Proverbs 9:10) But fear is not the end of wisdom. The end is the security of being accounted a redeemed child of our Father in Heaven.
5 Yet I may love Thee too, O LORD, Almighty as Thou art; for Thou hast stooped to ask of me the love of my poor heart. Yes, we may love the Lord, but only because He first loved us – else we would suffer the pains of eternal death. (see 1 John 4:19) What a humbling experience to be granted the blessing of being elected as a son or daughter of the Lord. He has deigned to love lowly man – not out of any innate worthiness of mankind, but out of His love and providence for those whom He has called forth to the Throne of Grace.
