Catherine Winkworth (trans.) · 87 of 126
5. O mighty Spirit! Source whence all things sprung!
Praise and Thanksgiving
V. The of God brought near to Man in Christ
O mighty Spirit! Source all things sprung! O glorious Majesty of perfect Light! Hath ever worthy praise to Thee been sung, Or mortal heart endured to meet Thy sight? If they who sin have never known Must veil their faces at Thy throne, Oh how shall I, who am but sin and dust, Approach untrembling to the Pure and Just?
The voice of conscience in the soul hath shown Some far-off glimpses of Thy holiness, And yet more clearly hast Thou made it known In Thy dear word that tells us of Thy ; But with all-glorious light divine In His face we behold it shine, The sinless One, who this dark earth has trod To win through sorrow sinners back to God.
The brightness of Thy glory was the Son; Thy law engraven on His heart He wore, And on His forehead that all clearly shone That Aaron's forehead but in shadow bore; And even to death did He obey To take the guilt of sin away, And made a curse for man, and dying thus, He won the power of holiness for us.
Now may Thine image in us shine anew In holy and innocence; Now, strengthen'd by Thy Son, a service true Thy people render, pure from all offence; But all their light is only dim, A shadow'd broken light from Him, Who that we might be holy bore our load, In Whom we dare to meet the Holy God.
O grosser Geist, o Ursprung
