Now
unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and
glory for ever and ever. Amen.
1 Tim 1:17 (KJV)
Immortal, invisible, God only
wise
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.
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, like leaves on the tree,
then
wither and perish; but nought changeth 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.
The technical merits of both words and music (Welsh tune - Denio) combine to
lift this hymn to heights far above those of the common plane of life. The
words were written by Walter Chalmers Smith in 1867. This hymn rises to the
level of a prayer of praise to the Most High God. There is no hint of the
sensuality increasingly associated with corrupt modern church 'songs'. The
words are reverent, majestic, and deeply touching. Basil Cole, in his excellent
book - Music & Morals - says: "The soul is distracted from the
meaning of a song when it is sung merely to arouse pleasure. But when one sings
out of devotion, he pays more attention to the content and meaning, both
because he lingers more on the words, and because, as Augustine says, 'each
affection of our spirit, according to its variety, has its own appropriate
measure in the voice and singing, by some hidden correspondence wherewith it is
stirred. The same is true of the hearers, for even if they do not understand
what is sung, they understand WHY it is sung, namely for God's honor, and this
is enough to arouse their devotion.' " This hymn perfectly matches, in
its tonal qualities, as well as its truth, the high standard of a hymn to
God. I cannot imagine remaining seated while this great classical hymn is
being played.
This hymn strikes out with immediate dispatch to rest its every word upon the
Scripture proofs that underpin its whole:
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.
The exalted symbols and metaphors of this hymn are all revealed in many parts
of Holy Writ and call to our memories the Immutability and Majesty of God in all
ways and above all things. Yes, God is Immortal and Invisible. "No
man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of
the Father, he hath declared him." (John 1:18) Man does not have
the eye to behold such a powerful Visage as God, but he has done so in the
Visage of His only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ! God is Spirit and Light - so
much so that to behold His Face would blind and destroy the mortal eye. "God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship
him in spirit and in truth." (John 4:24) This
then is the message which we have heard of him, and declare unto you, that God
is light, and in him is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5) See,
my friends, we have only gone over the first two lines and have discovered
three Bible verses that support its truth. There are, of course many more that
we could mention if time and space permitted. That is the strength of the
classical hymn - to present the beauty of God's Word and Doctrine in such form
as to evoke love and reverence for it.
Since God is the very Source and Storehouse of blessings, He it is who is most
greatly blessed. There is none who can approach His Glory. He is the Ancient of
Days - Eternally existent for all time , past, present, and future. Daniel the
prophet makes somber reference to the Ancient of Days: "I beheld
till the thrones were cast down, and the Ancient of Days did sit, whose garment
was white as snow, and the hair of his head like the pure wool: his throne was
like the fiery flame, and his wheels as burning fire.
A fiery stream issued
and came forth from before him: thousand thousands ministered unto him, and ten
thousand times ten thousand stood before him: the judgment was set, and the
books were opened." (Dan 7:9-10) Of course, Daniel did not behold
God in real time, but in a vision. God is Almighty for there is NONE besides
Him. "Thine, O LORD, is the greatness, and the power, and the glory,
and the victory, and the majesty: for all that is in the heaven and in the
earth is thine; thine is the kingdom, O LORD, and thou art exalted as head
above all. " (1 Chron 29:11) The victory of every battle belongs
to the Lord. Salvation belongeth unto the LORD: thy blessing is upon thy
people." (Psalms 3:8)
Please consider how full of biblical truth and inspiration are the classic
hymns of the Church - not the pabulum and sterility of so-called modern church
songs. It is for this reason that the only singing we do in our Anglican
tradition is of those hymns which glorify and praise God rather than man.
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.
Light, having no observable material mass, is silent in its coming and in the
revelation it makes to mankind. Light does not haste because it's speed is the
only constant in the Universe. Light never rests, but continues its course to
the infinities of space. God, as Light, does not waste a single breath but
accomplishes all by His Word that He intends. "So shall my word be
that goeth forth out of my mouth: it shall not return unto me void, but it
shall accomplish that which I please, and it shall prosper in the thing whereto
I sent it." (Isaiah 55:11) God, unlike the kings of the world,
does not rule out of political consideration, but out of infinite might and
power. The Mountains of the Lord are heights of Justice, but also of Grace and
Mercy unlike the courts of law in the world. His clouds are, alike, fountains
of mercy to all - both good and evil: "That
ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his
sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on
the unjust." (Matt 5:45)
You can see easily the abundance of Scripture presented in true hymns. I have
only mentioned a few in the first verse of this hymn, but there are many other
biblical truths that can be supported by Scripture therein. Once my youth
inquired as to why we sang the old hymns rather than the new ditties played in
other churches such as "God is so God?" I said to them: "Let us
examine the difference together." So I made a power-point of The
1908 Kindergarten song, "God is so Good" and the classical hymn,
"O Worship the King." Only one biblical 'idea' could be wrung from
the first, and twenty-two Bible verses could be discovered in the latter
when we stopped looking. They got the point! Yes, God is love, but do we
not need to know much more than that? He is love to those who will love Him.
To
all life thou givest, to both great and small;
in
all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we
blossom and flourish, like leaves on the tree,
then
wither and perish; but nought changeth thee.
The first two lines of the third stanza literally vibrate with profound Gospel
Truth! "I am the way, the truth, and the
life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." (John
14:6) All Light and Life comes from God, our Maker. "That was
the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world."
(John 1:9) If we live our lives, basking in the heavenly sunlight of God, we
shall blossom and flourish as roses on the meadowland, and our leaves will
provide the nutrients of the fruit of our branches. We shall wither as the
desert flower in the hot and dry winds of the plain, but only our visible clay
beings shall so wither; for our countenance shall be changed in an instant from
this mortal coil to new creatures in Christ - at the twinkling of an eye. But
God undergoes no such change for He is immutable and unchanging. "For
I am the LORD, I change not." (Mal 3:6) "Jesus Christ
the same yesterday, and to day, and for ever." (Heb 13:8) What a
blessing to have a Friend that sticks closer than a brother and who does not
change with the same fickle abandon of our worldly friends!
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.
As we have been told in 1 John 1:5, "God is Light."
There is no Light beside that Light of God for He is the Generator of ALL
Light! He is, in fact, the Father of Lights! "Every good gift and
every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of Lights,
with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning." (James
1:17) The angels before the Throne of God adore Him but shield their faces from
the brilliant Light of His appearance. See how their prayers praise and glorify
God: "And all the angels stood round about the throne, and about the
elders and the four beasts, and fell before the throne on their faces, and
worshipped God, Saying, Amen: Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving,
and honour, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever. Amen."
(Rev 7:11-12) Note how this marvelous hymn relates the beauty of this truth!
Since God is Light, we must know that our Lord Jesus Christ is also Light:
"I am the light of the world: he
that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of
life." (John 8:12) That Light of Life owned by the
elect in Christ have the reflected Light of Christ to light their way. As the
moon borrows her light from the Sun, the Christian borrows his Light from the
SON. Praise the Lord, all ye Gentiles; and laud him, all ye people.
" (Romans 15:11) - We laud and magnify His Holy Name.
It is the Light of God that enables us to see and know, else we walk in
darkness. Just as the brilliant SUN cannot be looked upon with the naked
eye, so God cannot be visible for His spiritual brilliance to the naked soul.
Do you have that LIGHT, of is God hidden from you in your darkness?
My dear friends, if I were to be cast in a cold prison without Bible or note, I
would yet have His Word preserved in my heart by way of the classical hymns of
the Church.
