THE IDEA OF GOD.
“In the beginning God.”—Gen. i. 1.
Enthroned in vast eternity
How awful, God! to muse on Thee,
Voiceless and viewless, First and Last,
The All in All, without a past!
When thus to Thee our minds would mount,
And trace pure Being to its fount,
O'erawed they shrink abash'd and dim,
Like glory-dazzled Cherubim.
For, once Thou wast the dread Alone,
No universe around Thee thrown,
No choral worlds to chant Thy praise,
No spirits basking in Thy blaze;
But in Thyself, that sacred Three,
Whose name is Love, and Mystery,—
In trinal grandeur thus enshrined,
Unheard, unfelt, and undivined.
Thou didst not, then, the worlds create,
Because Thy glories fail'd to be
Whate'er of infinitely great
Belongs to full-orb'd Deity:
But, from Thine Essence freely came
Creative power, and light, and love,
And all which men or Angels name,
Of bright below, or blest above.
And hence yon worlds, with all they hold
Of perfect, pure, serene, or grand,
The purpose of Thy will unfold,
And fill the hollow of Thy hand.
From Thee our thoughts their grace derive,
Chaste hearts receive celestial glow;
And vainly would the sceptic strive
Without Thee, e'en to think below.
The mind which cannot God discern
Grows day by day more weak, and vile,
Must soon its very self unlearn,—
Absorb'd in sin, and sunk in guile.
Eternal Light! and Law of mind!
If in Thy beams calm angels see
A lustre that would strike them blind
Were they to think they fathom'd Thee;
Let insects like ourselves beware
What majesties to Heaven belong!—
Our science is believing prayer,
And flesh is weak, when faith is strong.
Most glorious God! while thus we scan
Earth, air, and ocean through their bounds,
And yearn to trace the measured plan
Of Wisdom in her mystic rounds;
Be ours the humbling thought, that all
Of form and function, life or sense,
Which men sublime and wondrous call,—
Is nothing to Omnipotence!
It was not once; it would not be,
If Thy dread fiat said, Depart!
For then, the universe would flee,
And leave Thee, Godhead as Thou art.
