Worship — Holy Scriptures

The heavens declare thy glory, Lord

No. 169
Words Isaac Watts.
6 stanzas
Words only in the original

Words

The heavens declare thy glory, Lord;
In every star thy wisdom shines;
But when our eyes behold thy word,
We read thy name in fairer lines.

The rolling sun, the changing light,
And nights and days, thy power confess;
But the blest volume thou didst write,
Reveals thy justice and thy grace.

Sun, moon, and stars convey thy praise
Round the whole earth, and never stand;
So, when thy truth began its race,
It touched and lightened every land.

Nor shall thy spreading gospel rest
Till through the world thy truth has run;
Till Christ has all the nations blessed
That see the light or feel the sun.

Great Sun of righteousness! arise;
Bless the dark world with heavenly light;
Thy gospel makes the simple wise,
Thy laws are pure, thy judgments right.

Thy noblest wonders here we view
In souls renewed and sins forgiven:
Lord, cleanse my sins, my soul renew,
And make thy word my guide to heaven.

About this hymn

As printed Words only. As printed: hymn number «169», reference line «3, 101, 336.» in italics (sing to the tune of hymn 3, 101 or 336); stanzas 1–3 at the foot of the left column of p. 60, below hymn 168, and stanzas 4–6 at the head of the right column; «Isaac Watts.» in italics at the end, above hymn 170. The first word «THE» is set in capitals and small capitals. The print sets a thin space before «;», «:» and «!» («Lord ;», «shines ;», «confess ;», «stand ;», «run ;», «righteousness !», «arise ;», «light ;», «forgiven :»); it is closed up here. Lines 2 and 4 of each stanza are indented in the print. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's. No meter is printed (the text is L. M., 8.8.8.8).

Source: The Seventh-day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book (Battle Creek: Review & Herald, 1886/1888)
Where: Worship — Holy Scriptures · No. 169 · printed page 60
Checked: lyrics verified (fork reading; parent check pending) · 2026-09-30
Download: Words (Markdown)