Oh loved! but not enough—though dearer far Than self and its most loved enjoyments are; None duly loves thee, but who, nobly free From sensual objects, finds his all in thee. | Glory of God! thou stranger here below, Whom man nor knows, nor feels a wish to know; Our faith and reason are both shocked to find Man in the post of honour—Thee behind. | Reason exclaims—“Let every creature fall, Ashamed, abased, before the Lord of all;” And faith, o'erwhelmed with such a dazzling blaze, Feebly describes the beauty she surveys. | Yet man, dim–sighted man, and rash as blind, Deaf to the dictates of his better mind, In frantic competition dares the skies, And claims precedence of the Only wise. | Oh, lost in vanity, till once self–known! Nothing is great, or good, but God alone; When thou shalt stand before his awful face, Then, at the last, thy pride shall know his place. | Glorious, Almighty, First, and without end! When wilt thou melt the mountains and descend? When wilt thou shoot abroad thy conquering rays, And teach these atoms, thou hast made, thy praise? | Thy glory is the sweetest heaven I feel; And, if I seek it with too fierce a zeal, Thy love, triumphant o'er a selfish will, Taught me the passion, and inspires it still. | My reason, all my faculties, unite, To make thy glory their supreme delight: Forbid it, fountain of my brightest days, That I should rob thee, and usurp thy praise! | My soul! rest happy in thy low estate, Nor hope, nor wish, to be esteemed or great, To take the impression of a will divine, Be that thy glory, and those riches thine. | Confess him righteous in his just decrees, Love what he loves, and let his pleasure please; Die daily; from the touch of sin recede; Then thou hast crowned him, and he reigns indeed. | |