Sung during the Sunday worship at the Metropolitan Tabernacle, London (Spurgeon’s).
Hymn 104 version 3 (based on Psalm 104) from our hymn book, Psalms & Hymns of Reformed Worship.
LORD, if one moment Thou Thy face shouldst hide,
Or cloud Thy glory, or Thy smile deny,
Then would all nature veil her mournful eyes,
And vent her grief in universal cries:
Then certain death, with all its dismal train,
Would o’er the nations spread its tragic reign.
See all creation, in such splendour born,
Now, with her hosts to native dust return;
But when again Thy glory is displayed,
She shall revive and lift her radiant head;
New rising forms Thine order shall obey,
And life rekindle at Thy stirring ray.
United thanks replenished nature pays,
And Heaven and earth resound their Maker’s praise!
When time shall in eternity be lost,
And aging nature languish into dust;
For ever young, new marvels shall remain,
Vast as Thy Being, endless as Thy reign.
When, at Thy word, my soul excursive flies
Through earth and air into Thy regal skies,
From world to world, new wonders shall I find,
As all the Godhead dawns upon my mind!
To Thee, my soul shall endless praises pay:
Joined with the angels in eternal day.
Author: Thomas Blacklock (1721-91)
Tune: Regeneration
Composer: Christopher Laws (b.1946)
(This tune is published in ‘Worthy the Lamb’, a recently-produced book of new tunes for Reformed worship, which is available for purchase here: https://bit.ly/2Dv6yEl)