1 Great former of this various frame,
Our souls adore thine awful name;
And bow and tremble while thy praise,
The Ancient of eternal days.

2 Thou, Lord, with unsurprised survey,
Saw'st nature rising yesterday;
And, as to-morrow, shall thine eye
See earth and stars in ruin lie.

3 Beyond an angel's vision bright,
Thou dwell'st in self-existent light;
Which shines with undiminish'd ray,
While suns and worlds in smoke decay.

Pause.

4 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.

5 But let the creature fall around:
Let death consign us to the ground;
Let the last general flame arise,
And melt the arches of the skies,

6 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.