Enjoy The Beauty of Great Poetry Used For God’s Glory, O Worship the King
I mentioned in my introduction to the Poet’s Corner, that it can be very rewarding and encouraging to read great poetry which is dedicated to praise and worship. The thoughts and concepts of the poem take on greater depth if combined with rich language and flowing verse.
O Worship the King, by Sir Robert Grant, is a wonderful example of this kind of poetry. The imagery with which the poet depicts God and His attributes, and the grandeur of the language he uses, lend a greater sense of awe and reverence to the worship of the Lord.
The rhyme, which is exceptional, has an intricate and complicated pattern. Notice how the lines rhyme at the middle point and at the end, leaving much less flexibility to the poet, and requiring a greater command of words. For those of you who are familiar with this popular old hymn, notice also how beautifully the meter fits with the tune by Johan Michael Haydn, accelerating in beauty and majesty through lines three and four.
The third and sixth stanzas were left out of the hymnal I have, and in fact I was not aware they existed until I looked for an online copy to post here, but they only add to the beauty of the poem.
O Worship the King
O worship the King, all glorious above,
O gratefully sing His power and His love;
Our shield and defender, the Ancient of Days,
Pavilioned in splendor, and girded with praise.
O tell of His might, O sing of His grace,
Whose robe is the light, whose canopy space,
His chariots of wrath the deep thunderclouds form,
And dark is His path on the wings of the storm.
The earth with its store of wonders untold,
Almighty, Thy power hath founded of old;
Established it fast by a changeless decree,
And round it hath cast, like a mantle, the sea.
Thy bountiful care, what tongue can recite?
It breathes in the air, it shines in the light;
It streams from the hills, it descends to the plain,
And sweetly distills in the dew and the rain.
Frail children of dust, and feeble as frail,
In Thee do we trust, nor find Thee to fail;
Thy mercies how tender, how firm to the end,
Our maker, defender, redeemer, and friend.
O measureless might! Ineffable love!
While angels delight to worship Thee above,
The humbler creation, though feeble their lays,
With true adoration shall all sing Thy praise.
I would encourage you to take a closer look at the hymns which you are familiar with, and see whether they have great poetry as well as sound doctrine. When you find some that do, I think you’ll begin to appreciate the dimension which they add to hymn-singing. And in the meantime, scan down the hymn, perhaps even hum the tune as you read, and enjoy the beauty of great poetry used for God’s glory.
If you like writing poetry, you might enjoy our 10 Week Poetry Course:
