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.
G
Im
C
mortal,
A
in
D
visible,
G
God on
D7
ly
G
wise,
In
C
light in
A
ac
D
cessi
Em
ble
C
hid from
D7
our
G
eyes,
Most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of
D
Days,
Em
Al
C
mighty,
A
vic
D
torious,
Em
Thy
C
great name
D7
we
G
praise.
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.
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.
G C
Unresting,
A D
unhasting, and
G
silent
D7
as
G
light,
Nor
C
wanting,
A
nor
D
wasting,
Em
Thou
C
rulest
D7
in
G
might;
Thy justice like mountains high soaring
D
above
Em
Thy
C
clouds which
A
are
D
fountains
Em
of
C
goodness
D7
and
G
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.
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.
G
To
C
all life
A
Thou
D
givest, to
G
both great
D7
and
G
small;
In
C
all life
A
Thou
D
livest,
Em
the
C
true life
D7
of
G
all;
We blossom and flourish as leaves on the
D
tree,
Em
And
C
wither
A
and
D
perish,
Em
but
C
nought
D7
changeth
G
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.
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.
G
Great
C
Father
A
of
D
Glory, pure
G
Father
D7
of
G
Light
Thine
C
angels
A D
adore Thee,
Em
all
C
veiling
D7
their
G
sight;
All laud we would render, O help us to
D
see:
Em
’Tis
C
only
A
the
D
splendor
Em
of
C
light
D7
hideth
G
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.
My Father’s favorite hymn! I’ve always loved this hymn from childhood. The more I meditate on the wordings, the more I appreciate it. Indeed, God deserves all the honour and Adoration.
Singing this hymn, you grow in confidence of whom your Father is. You glow with pride. You feel like hugging Him. Smilling, you boldly declare, "I can do all things through Christ ...
This hymn is as close as we can get in acknowledging the plenipotency of our God. No word in the entire lyrics is a waste. You could sense that it was written under a deep influence of the Holy Ghost! Amen.
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.
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!
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!