"Immortal, invisible, God only wise"

This hymn is one of my most favorite hymns. The Welsh melody uplifts me every time I hear it, and when the choir joins in with the sopranos and their descant, the moment is absolutely breathtaking. The music surges, and everyone around you is singing, and singing with great heart in praise of the Holy One, the Creator God. Some of the verses are really quite astonishing, especially the naming of God as "the Ancient of Days." But, of course, the non-inclusive language and the theology inherent in his lyrics are indicators of the different socio-historical contexts of Smith's time. Nevertheless, I find that I am able to sing to God "the Father" with as much faith and heart as to God our "Mother" -- and I do so while cognizant of the definitions, associations, and meaning infused into those lyrics and also the meanings absent from the language used in those verses. It is the language that catches my attention, but it is the melody that sweeps me away.

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
In light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
Most blessèd, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
Almighty, victorious, Thy great Name we praise.

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.

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 naught changeth Thee.

Great Father of glory, pure Father of light,
Thine angels adore Thee, all veiling their sight;
But of all Thy rich graces this grace, Lord, impart
Take the veil from our faces, the vile from our heart.

All laud we would render; O help us to see
’Tis only the splendor of light hideth Thee,
And so let Thy glory, Almighty, impart,
Through Christ in His story, Thy Christ to the heart.

- Words by Wal­ter C. Smith, Hymns of Christ and the Christ­ian Life, 1876. Music by St. Den­io, Welsh mel­o­dy, from Can­ai­dau y Cyssegr, by John Ro­berts, 1839.