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| HOW 1 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 | 5 |
| Thy throne, O God most high; | |
| Ten thousand times ten thousand sound | |
| Thy praise; but who am I? | |
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| Thy brightness unto them appears, | |
| Whilst I Thy footsteps trace; | 10 |
| 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 | 15 |
| There hallelujahs be. | |
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| Enlighten with faith’s light my heart, | |
| Enflame it with love’s fire; | |
| Then shall I sing and bear a part | |
| With that celestial choir. | 20 |
| 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. | |
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| How great a being, Lord, is Thine | 25 |
| 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; | 30 |
| Thy time is now and evermore, | |
| Thy place is everywhere. | |
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| How good art Thou, whose goodness is | |
| Our parent, nurse, and guide! | |
| Whose streams do water Paradise, | 35 |
| And all the earth beside! | |
| Thine upper and Thy nether streams | |
| Make bold Thy worlds to thrive; | |
| Under Thy warm and sheltering wings | |
| Thou keep’st two broods alive. | 40 |
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| Thy arm of might, most mighty King, | |
| Both rocks and hearts doth break: | |
| My God, Thou canst do everything | |
| But what should show Thee weak. | |
| Thou canst not cross Thyself, or be | 45 |
| Less than Thyself, or poor; | |
| But whatsoever pleaseth Thee | |
| That canst Thou do, and more. | |
