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Advent Hymnals

Hymns and Tunes 1886 79

My God, how wonderful thou art

Words: Frederick W. FaberTune: 540, 129, 114

Studio

1My God, how wonderful thou art!
Thy majesty how bright!
How beautiful thy mercy-seat,
In depths of burning light!

2How dread are thine eternal years,
O everlasting Lord!
By prostrate spirits day and night
Incessantly adored!

3How beautiful, how beautiful,
The sight of thee must be—
Thine endless wisdom, boundless power,
And awful purity!

4O how I fear thee, living God!
With deepest, tenderest fears;
And worship thee with trembling hope
And penitential tears.

5Yet 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.

Tune
540, 129, 114

Public Domain

The verse

Meter
8.6.8.6
Foot
iambic (da-DUM) · 60% of beats fit
Rhyme
ABCB
Scan every line

/ stressed · ˘ unstressed · ? not in the dictionary

Verse 1

My God, how wonderful thou art!˘///˘˘//8A
Thy majesty how bright!//˘˘//6B
How beautiful thy mercy-seat,//˘˘/???8C
In depths of burning light!˘/˘/˘/6B

Verse 2

How dread are thine eternal years,//˘/˘/˘/8A
O everlasting Lord!˘/˘/˘/6B
By prostrate spirits day and night˘/˘/˘/˘/8C
Incessantly adored!//˘˘˘/6B

Verse 3

How beautiful, how beautiful,//˘˘//˘˘8A
The sight of thee must be—˘/˘//˘6B
Thine endless wisdom, boundless power,//˘/˘/˘/˘9C
And awful purity!˘/˘/˘˘6D

Verse 4

O how I fear thee, living God!˘/˘///˘/8A
With deepest, tenderest fears;˘/˘/˘˘/7B
And worship thee with trembling hope˘/˘/˘/˘˘/9C
And penitential tears.˘????/6D

Verse 5

Yet I may love thee too, O Lord!/˘˘///˘/8A
Almighty as thou art;˘/˘˘//6B
For thou hast stooped to ask of me˘///˘/˘˘8C
The love of my poor heart.˘/˘˘//6B

Counted by machine from the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. It cannot hear emphasis or a poet’s licence, so treat it as a place to start reading, not the last word.