The Voices of Creation

How glorious is God's greatness!

Author: Valdimar Briem; Translator: Charles Venn Pilcher
Tune: BLOMSTERTID
Published in 8 hymnals

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Representative Text

1 How marvelous God's greatness!
How glorious His might!
To this the world bears witness
in wonders day and night-
in form of flow'r and snowflake,
in morn's resplendent birth,
in afterglow at even,
in sky and sea and earth.

2 Each tiny flow'ret whispers
the great Life-giver's Name;
the mighty mountain masses
His majesty proclaim;
the hollow vales are hymning
God's shelter for His own;
the snow-capped peaks are pointing
to God's almighty throne.

3 The ocean's vast abysses
in one grand psalm record
the deep mysterious counsels
and mercies of the Lord;
the icy waves of winter
are thund'ring on the strand;
and grief's chill stream is guided
by God's all-gracious hand.

4 The starry hosts are singing
thro' all the light-strewn sky
of God's eternal temple
and palace courts on high;
when in these outer chambers
such glory gilds the night,
O, what transcendent brightness
is God's eternal light!

Source: Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #175

Author: Valdimar Briem

Born: Feb­ru­a­ry 1, 1848, Grund, Ice­land. Died: May 3, 1930, Stó­ri-Nú­pur, Ice­land. Briem at­tend­ed the The­o­lo­gic­al Sem­in­ary in Reyk­ja­vik, was or­dained in 1873, and in 1880 be­came pas­tor of the Stó­ri-Nú­pur par­ish, where he served for three de­cades. In 1909, he be­came vice-bi­shop of Skál­holt. The 1886 Ice­lan­dic hym­nal has 102 orig­in­al hymns by Briem, and 39 of his trans­la­tions. Lyrics: Hve dryalegur er Drott­inn (How Mar­vel­ous God’s Great­ness) Lord, Let Thy Spir­it © The Cyber Hymnal™ (www.hymntime.com/tch) Go to person page >

Translator: Charles Venn Pilcher

Pilcher, Charles Venn. (Oxford, June 4, 1879--July 4, 1961, Sydney, Australia). Anglican. Grandnephew of Charlotte Elliott. Hertford College, Oxford, B.A., 1902; M.A., 1905; B.D., 1909; D.D., 1921. Curacies at Birmingham, 1903-1905; St. James, Toronto, 1910-1916; taught theology at Auckland Castle, England, 1905-1906, and at Wycliffe College, Toronto, 1916-1936. Elected coadjutor bishop of Sydney, Australia, at the instance of a former Wycliffe colleague, Archbishop Mowll. He composed hymn tunes and other music, and long played bass clarinet in the Toronto Symphony Orchestra. Also, he translated and published much devotional material from Iceland, notably Iceland Christian Classics (1950). These side interests, like his hymn writing, merely… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: How glorious is God's greatness!
Title: The Voices of Creation
Icelandic Title: Hve dryalegur er Drottinn
Author: Valdimar Briem
Translator: Charles Venn Pilcher
Meter: 7.6.7.6 D
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #2483
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Instances

Instances (1 - 5 of 5)

Ambassador Hymnal #153

Audio

Evangelical Lutheran Worship #830

TextPage Scan

Hymns to the Living God #34

TextPage Scan

Psalms and Hymns to the Living God #175

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #2483

Include 3 pre-1979 instances
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