Can Creatures to Perfection Find

Verse 1

Can creatures to perfection find [1]
Th’ eternal uncreated mind?
Or can the largest stretch of thought
Measure and search his nature out?

Verse 2

’Tis high as heaven, ’tis deep as hell,
And what can mortals know or tell?
His glory spreads beyond the sky,
And all the shining worlds on high.

Verse 3

But man, vain man, would fain be wise,
Born like a wild young colt he flies
Thro’ all the follies of his mind,
And swells and snuffs the empty wind.

Verse 4

God is a King of power unknown,
Firm are the orders of his throne;
If he resolve, who dares oppose,
Or ask him why, or what he does?

Verse 5

He wounds the heart, and he makes whole;
He calms the tempest of the soul;
When he shuts up in long despair
Who can remove the heavy bar?

Verse 6

He frowns, [2] and darkness veils the moon;
The fainting sun grows dim at noon;
The pillars [3] of heaven’s starry roof
Tremble and start at his reproof.

Verse 7

He gave the vaulted heaven its form,
The crooked serpent and the worm;
He breaks the billows with his breath,
And smites the Sons of pride to death.

Verse 8

These are a portion of his ways,
But who shall dare describe his face?
Who can endure his light, or stand
To hear the thunders of his hand?

Verse 9

[1] Job 11:7 &c. [2] Job 25:5.
[3] Job 26:11 &c.