1
O God of good, the unfathomed sea!
Who would not give his heart to thee?
Who would not love thee with his might?
O Jesus, lover of mankind,
Who would not his whole soul and mind,
With all his strength, to thee unite?
2
Thou shin’st with everlasting rays;
Before the insufferable blaze,
Angels with both wings veil their eyes;
Yet free as air thy bounty streams
On all thy works; thy mercy’s beams
Diffusive as thy sun’s arise.
3
Astonished at thy frowning brow,
Earth, hell, and heaven’s strong pillars bow;
Terrible majesty is thine!
Who then can that vast love express
Which bows thee down to me, who less
Than nothing am, till thou art mine?
4
High throned on heaven’s eternal hill,
In number, weight, and measure still
Thou sweetly orderest all that is:
And yet thou deign’st to come to me,
And guide my steps, that I, with thee
Enthroned, may reign in endless bliss.
5
Fountain of good! all blessing flows
From thee; no want thy fulness knows;
What but thyself canst thou desire?
Yet self-sufficient as thou art,
Thou dost desire my worthless heart;
This, only this, dost thou require.
6
Primeval Beauty! in thy sight
The first-born fairest sons of light
See all things naked and unclean;
Then what must I appear? for I
In their pure eyes, who all things see,
A foul and mortal spot should seem.
7
Yea, though thou shouldst my soul destroy,
Cast off, and plunge me into hell,
I care not, so thy angry will
But one moment relenting, I
Can see thy lovely face, and die;
Only let me for ever dwell
8
In that abyss of love and grace,
Where God the Son doth always shine;
The glory of unspotted bliss,
My God, my God, my God is mine!
-Johann Scheffler