Today’s hymn is by Frederick W. Faber (1814-1863). Raised in the Church of England, Faber came from a Huguenot and strict Calvinistic family background. He was educated at Balliol College, Oxford, and ordained in the Church of England in 1839 but later left to be a Roman Catholic in 1845. Because he believed that Roman Catholics should sing hymns like those written by John Newton, Charles Wesley, and William Cowper, Faber wrote 150 hymns himself. He published his hymns in various volumes and finally collected all of them in Hymns (1862). Enjoy this one!
My God, how wonderful Thou art,
Thy majesty how bright,
How beautiful Thy mercy seat,
in depths of burning light!
How dread are Thine eternal years,
O everlasting LORD;
by prostrate spirits, day and night,
incessantly adored.
How wonderful, how beautiful,
the sight of Thee must be,
Thine endless wisdom, boundless pow’r,
and awful purity.
O how I fear Thee, Living God,
with deepest, tend’rest fears,
and worship Thee with trembling hope,
and penitential tears.
Yet I may love Thee too, O LORD,
Almighty as Thou art;
for Thou hast stooped to ask of me
the love of my poor heart.
No earthly father loves like Thee,
no mother e’er so mild,
bears and forbears, as Thou hast done
with me, Thy sinful child.
Father of Jesus, love’s reward,
what rapture will it be,
prostrate before Thy throne to lie,
and ever gaze on Thee!
Hymn of the Day 