Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

Immortal, invisible, God only wise,
in light inaccessible hid from our eyes,
most blessed, most glorious, the Ancient of Days,
almighty, victorious, thy great name we praise.

Unresting, unhasting and silent as light,
nor wanting, nor wasting, thou rulest in might;
thy justice like mountains high soaring above
thy clouds which are fountains of goodness and love.

To all, life thou givest, to both great and small;
in all life thou livest, the true life of all;
we blossom and flourish as leaves on the tree,
and wither and perish, but naught changeth thee.

Great Father of glory; pure Father of light,
thine angels adore thee, all veiling their sight;
all laud we would render; O help us to see
’tis only the splendor of light hideth thee!”

I realize that this hymn may not be familiar to many of you, but it has some good theology in it.  One of the things I like about it is that the hymn describes some of the unique qualities of God.   In verse 2, there are four words/phrases the author uses to describe Him:

• Unresting – In Psalm 121:4, the BIble says “Indeed, He who watches over Israel will neither slumber nor sleep.”  God is always available to us no matter the time of day.  He doesn’t take a long weekend or a sabbatical.  He is ready, willing, and able to answer our prayers.

• Unhasting – God is not in a hurry.  He does things in His timing.  In 2 Peter 3:9, the Bible says “The Lord is not slack concerning his promise, as some men count slackness; but is longsuffering to us-ward, not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.”

• Nor wanting – God doesn’t have “wants” like we do.  He is self-sustaining.  He needs nothing, but does however, deserve and desire the praises of His people. 

• Nor wasting – God does not “waste” anything.  All people are created in His image and have intrinsic value because they are created by Him.  He can use each of us to accomplish His purposes.  The key is being a willing vessel that He can use.  The job you are given may not be as visible as some others, but is no less important.  The task has purpose because of who He calls to do it. 

In the 3rd verse, the author focuses on the fact that God is the giver of life.  The phrase in the second sentence is a great reminder to us.  It says that we humans “blossom and flourish like leaves on a tree,” and then we “wither and perish” like the leaves do in the fall.  The physical life that He gives us is temporary, and these physical bodies will not last forever.  He gives us life and we grow, but the reality is also that we will also die one day unless we are part of the “Meeting in the Air” (another hymn for another day).  We will change a lot during our lifetime.  We are immature children (physically and spiritually).  We mature in Christ and we grow physically, but our bodies will one day start to show signs of age and we will become weaker physically, and then we will die.  Those changes are a natural part of a human life.  However, God is unchanging.  He is the same yesterday, today and forever.  Another “great” hymn says “There is no shadow of turning with thee.”  That phrase is based upon James 1:17 which says “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.”  I like the fact that James combines the concept of God as a giver (like in verse 3 of this hymn), and the unchanging nature of God (like in verse 3 of this hymn).  He will always look for ways to bless us with good and perfect gifts because that is part of His nature.

God has many qualities that are worthy of our praise and that are unique.  Scripture reminds of that, and hymns like this one reinforce that “wise” theology.