The Transforming Vision of God

My God, the visits of thy face
Afford superior joy,
To all the flatt'ring world can give,
Or mortal hopes employ.

But clouds and darkness intervene,
My brightest joys decline,
And earth's gay trifles oft ensnare
This wand'ring heart of mine.

Lord, guide this wand'ring heart to thee:
Unsatisfied I stray:
Break thro' the shades of sense and sin,
With thine enlivening ray.

O let thy beams resplendent shine,
And ev'ry cloud remove;
Transform my pow'rs, and fit my soul
For happier scenes above.

There Jesus reigns! may I be cloath'd
With his divine array;
And when I close these eyes in death,
Awake to endless day:

To endless day! to perfect life!
To bliss without alloy!
Where not the least faint cloud shall rise,
To intercept the joy:

To view, unveil'd, thy radiant face,
Thou everlasting fair!
And, chang'd to spotless purity,
Thy glorious likeness wear:

To feast, with ever new delight,
On uncreated good;
And drink full satisfying draughts
Of pleasure's sacred flood.

O bliss too high for mortal thought!
It awes, and yet inspires:
Fain would my soul, unfetter'd, rise
In more intense desires.

Lord, raise my faith, my hope, my heart,
To those transporting joys;
Then shall I scorn each little snare,
Which this vain world employs:

Then, though I sink in death's cold sleep,
I shall awake to bliss,
And in the likeness of my God,
Find endless happiness.