1 Bless God, my soul; Thou, Lord, alone
Possessest empire without bounds,
With honour Thou art crown'd thy throne
Eternal majesty surrounds.
2 With light thou dost Thyself enrobe,
And glory for a garment take;
Heaven's curtains stretch beyond the globe,
Thy canopy of state to make.
3 God builds on liquid air, and forms
His palace-chambers in the skies;
The clouds His chariots are, and storms
The swift-wing'd steeds with which he flies.
4 As bright as flame, as swift as wind,
His ministers heaven's palace fill;
They have their sundry tasks assign'd
All prompt to do their sovereign's will.
5 In praising god while he prolongs
My breath, i will that breath employ;
And join devotion to my songs,
Sincere, as in Him is my joy.
Source: Hymnal: according to the use of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America #410
First Line: | Bless God, my soul, thou, Lord, alone |
Meter: | 8.8.8.8 |
Source: | Tate & Brady |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Bless God, my soul: Thou, Lord alone. N. Tate. [Psalm civ.] This version of Psalm civ. is found in Tate's Miscellanea Sacra, 1696, and in the same year in the New Version. Its appearance in "the former work determines its authorship as distinct from Brady. From its ornate character some have concluded that most, if not all the renderings in the New Version which partake of that character, are by him. This conclusion is plausible and possible, but by no means certain. It was introduced into use in America early in the present century, and is still given in a few collections.
-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)