Great Former Of This Various Frame

Great Former of this various frame,

Our souls adore Thine awful Name;

And bow and tremble while they praise

The Ancient of eternal days.

Thou, Lord, with unsurprised survey,

Saw'st nature rising yesterday;

And, as tomorrow, shall Thine eye

See earth and stars in ruin lie.

Beyond an angel's vision bright,

Thou dwell'st in self existent light;

Which shines, with undiminished ray,

While suns and worlds in smoke decay.

Our days a transient period run,

And change with every circling sun;

And, in the firmest state we boast,

A moth can crush us into dust.

But let the creatures fall around;

Let death consign us to the ground;

Let the last general flame arise,

And melt the arches of the skies:

Calm as the summer's ocean, we

Can all the wreck of nature see,

While grace secures us an abode,

Unshaken as the throne of God.