Hymn of Glory

The Standard Prayer Book, tr. by Simeon Singer, [1915], at sacred-texts.com

p. 246

HYMN OF GLORY.

The Ark is opened and the following Hymn is chanted in alternate verses by the Reader and Congregation.

I will chant sweet hymns and compose songs; for my soul panteth after thee.

My soul hath longed to be beneath the shadow of thy hand, to know all thy secret mysteries.

Even whilst I speak of thy glory, my heart yearneth for thy love.

Therefore will I speak glorious things of thee, and will honor thy name with songs of love.

I will declare thy glory, though I have not seen thee; under images will I describe thee, though I have not known thee.

By the hand of thy prophets, in the mystic utterance of thy servants, thou hast imaged forth the grandeur and the glory of thy majesty.

Thy greatness and thy might they described in accordance with the power made manifest in thy acts.

In images they told of thee, but not according to thine essence; they but likened thee in accordance with thy works.

They figured thee in a multitude of visions; behold thou art One under all images.

They saw in thee both age and youth, ^* the hair of thy head now grey as in old age, now black as in youth.

Age in the day of judgment, and youth in the day of battle; as a man of war he striveth with his hands:

He hath bound a helmet of victory upon his head; his right hand, and his holy arm, hath wrought victory for him:

With dew of light his head is filled, and his locks with drops of the night.

He shall be glorified by me for he delighteth in me; yea, he shall be to me a crown of beauty.

His head is like fine, pure gold; upon his forehead is impressed the glory of his holy name.

p. 247

For grace and glory, beauty and splendor his people hath encircled him with a crown.

The plaited hair of his head seemed as in the days of youth, his black locks were flowing in curls.

The abode of righteousness—his glorious beauty—may he prefer it above his chiefest joy.

May his treasured people be a crown in his hand, a royal diadem of glorious beauty.

They were borne by him, he carried them; with a crown he adorned them; for that they were precious in his sight he honored them.

His glory resteth upon me, and mine upon him; and he is nigh unto me, when I cry unto him.

He is bright and ruddy in red apparel, when he cometh front treading the winepress in Edom. ^†

The symbol of his all-embracing providence he showed to the meek Moses, when the similitude of the Lord was before his eyes.

Taking pleasure in his people, he will glorify the meek; that, dwelling amid praises, he may be glorified by them.

The sum of thy word is truth; O thou, who hast called every generation from the beginning, seek the people that seeketh thee.

Accept, I beseech thee, the multitude of my songs, and let my joyous cry come near unto thee.

Let my praise be a crown unto thy head, and my prayer be set forth before thee as incense.

Let the song of the poor be precious in thy sight as the song that was sung at thy offerings.

May my blessing rise to the bountiful God, who createth and produceth, who is just and mighty.

And when I bless thee, incline thine head unto me, and take what I offer as though it were the choicest spices.

May my meditation be pleasant unto thee, for my soul panteth after thee.

p. 248

Psalm xcii.

A Psalm, a Song for the Sabbath Day. It is a good thing to give thanks unto the Lord, and to sing praises unto thy name, O Most High: to declare thy lovingkindness in the morning, and thy faithfulness every night, with an instrument of ten strings and with a harp, with thoughtful music upon the lyre. For thou, O Lord, hast made me rejoice through thy work: I will exult in the works of thy hands. How great are thy works, O Lord: the thoughts are very deep. A brutish man knoweth it not, neither doth a fool understand this: when the wicked sprang up as the grass, and all the workers of iniquity flourished, it was that they might be destroyed for ever. But thou, O Lord, art on high for evermore. For, lo, thine enemies, O Lord, for, lo, thine enemies shall perish; all the workers of iniquity shall be scattered. But my horn hast thou exalted, like that of the wild-ox: I am anointed with fresh oil. Mine eye also hath seen my desire on mine enemies; mine ears have heard my desire of them that rose up against me, doers of evil. The righteous shall spring up like a palm-tree; he shall grow tall like a cedar in Lebanon. Planted in the house of the Lord, they shall blossom in the courts of our God. They shall still shoot forth in old age; they shall be full of sap and green: to declare that the Lord is upright; he is my rock, and there is no unrighteousness in him.

The Mourner's Kaddish. p. 242.

Footnotes

246:* In regard to these and the following expressions, compare Daniel vii. 9; Exod. xv. 3; Song of Solomon v. 2, 14; Isaiah lix. 17; Psalm xcviii. 1.

247:† Compare Isaiah lxiii. 1, 2.