To God the universal King,
Let all mankind their tribute bring;
All that have breath, your voices raise,
In songs of never-ceasing praise.
The spacious earth on which we tread,
And wider heavens stretched o’er our head,
A large and solemn temple frame
To celebrate its builder’s fame.
Here the bright sun that rules the day,
As through the sky he makes his way,
To all the world proclaims aloud
The boundless sovereignty of God.
When from his courts the sun retires,
And with the day his voice expires,
The moon and stars adopt the song,
And through the night the praise prolong.
The listening earth with rapture hears
The harmonious music of the spheres;
And all her tribes the notes repeat,
That God is wise, and good, and great.
But man, endowed with nobler powers,
His God in nobler strains adores;
His is the gift to know the song,
As well as sing with tuneful tongue.
