1
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
GIm
Cmort
al,
Ain
Dvi
sible,
GGod
on
D7ly
Gwise,
In
Clight
in
Aac
Dcess
i
Emble
Chid
from
D7our
Geyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of
DDays,
EmAl
Cmight
y,
Avic
Dtor
ious,
EmThy
Cgreat
name
D7we
Gpraise.
2
Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
Unresting, unhasting, and silent as light,
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
Nor wanting, nor wasting, Thou rulest in might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring above
Thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.
3
To all life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish, but nought changeth Thee.
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish, but nought changeth Thee.
To all life Thou givest, to both great and small;
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish, but nought changeth Thee.
In all life Thou livest, the true life of all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
And wither and perish, but nought changeth Thee.
4
Great Father of Glory, pure Father of Light
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
All laud we would render, O help us to see:
'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
All laud we would render, O help us to see:
'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.
Great Father of Glory, pure Father of Light
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
All laud we would render, O help us to see:
'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
All laud we would render, O help us to see:
'Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee.
5
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great name we praise.
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Tolland, Connecticut, United States
Walter Chalmers Smith (1824-1908). “How do you express the inexpressible mystery of the Creator whose name was unutterable in Hebrew Scriptures save the self described I AM? How do you put into words what cannot be known? ” Walter Chalmers Smith attempted this in his classic hymn “Immortal, Invisible God Only Wise”.
A Scottish Free Minister educated at the universities of Edinburgh and Aberdeen, Smith served in congregations in London, Glasgow and Edinburgh. In 1893, he was elected moderator of the General Assembly for the church’s 50th Jubilee Celebration. This hymn is the only one of his volumes of poetry that remains in common use. Hymnologist Albert Bailey says poetry was for Smith “ the retreat of his nature from the burden of his labors. ”
The original version has six stanzas appearing in Smith hymns “Christ and the Christian Life” (1867).
This hymn is based on First Timothy 1:17 to the version of the tune ‘St. Denio’ in use today adapted from a Welsh song set to a hymn in John Roberts’ collection of hymns published in 1839.
Smith died September 19th and is buried in Edinburgh.
Bedok, Singapore
Looking back as a preteen on my years in my small conservative church, certain hymns would bring forth a spirit of praise n joy. Now in a charismatic church, I realise these hymns were God-centric - hymns of high praise & worship! This is one such lovely hymn!
Doha, Azizya, Qatar
Lovely Hymn! God may Your mighty name forever be praised.
Dorset, United Kingdom
I love this old hymn I remember singing this at school beautiful words. Praise God forever Amen
Lagos State, Ikeja, Nigeria
My best hymn song so far, I always feel the presence of God whenever I sing this hymn. Most blessed, Most glorious, The Ancient days, Immortal invisible God only wise. So deep!
Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria
My favorite hymn. Anytime I sing this song, I feel like holding Him by the hand due to His overwhelming presence.
Accra, Ghana
This God, He's awesome and powerful. I'm glad my mouth can sing of His glory this beautiful morning.
Lino Lakes, MN, United States
This song continue to be powerful and new each time I sing it. Thank God for inspiration.
South Bend, Indiana, United States
Simple examination of this wonderful old hymn will reveal that almost THIRTY attributes of God are specifically mentioned or alluded to in only Four short verses! By contrast, the pronouns "I", "ME, and "MY" do not appear at all in this hymn. Hymns, by definition, are songs of praise, and this song of praise is consumed with extolling the great God of all.
"There is a lot of good Christian music being produced and sung these days. And, there is a lot, maybe even more that is passed off as "Christian". I wonder what might happen if we took more time to prayerfully, honestly examine the songs we sing. Do they focus on "I", "ME, and "MY"? Or do they focus on HIM? Do they lead us into the depths and the richness and to the fullness of our Great God and to the glory of His Son, The Christ, our LORD and Savior ?
If our worship music appears to focus on Him. Is that "worship", a deeply emotional experience, one that is induced in us by beautiful music, by words sung over and over like a hypnotic mantra?
Or does our worship well up and spring forth from our hearts because we know from experience, the truth of Scripture, because His Holy Spirit has guided us in the light of His word into an intimate relationship with HIM, because HE has shed His light and His love abroad in our hearts until we no longer cry out merely for closeness, but our mouths can not be stopped, because our hearts overflow with expression after expression that declare HIS EXCELLENT GREATNESS?
Paoli, Pennsylvania, United States
I was fortunate that my parents sent me many years ago to The Episcopal Academy near Philadelphia. We had chapel every day of the school year and this hymn was often sung.
I recently had a conversation with a friend about our mortality and I immediately thought of the words:
"We blossom and flourish like leaves on a tree
Then wither and perish, but nought changeth thee"
Sublime!