Lord! when those glorious lights I see <br />With which thou hast adorned the skies, <br />Observing how they moved be, <br />And how their splendor fills mine eyes, <br />Methinks it is too large a grace, <br />But that thy love ordained it so,-- <br />That creatures in so high a place <br />Should servants be to man below. <br /> <br />The meanest lamp now shining there <br />In size and lustre doth exceed <br />The noblest of thy creatures here, <br />And of our friendship hath no need. <br />Yet these upon mankind attend <br />For secret aid or public light; <br />And from the world's extremest end <br />Repair unto us every night. <br /> <br />O, had that stamp been undefaced <br />Which first on us thy hand had set, <br />How highly should we have been graced, <br />Since we are so much honored yet! <br />Good God, for what but for the sake <br />Of thy beloved and only Son, <br />Who did on him our nature take, <br />Were these exceeding favors done? <br /> <br />As we by him have honored been, <br />Let us to him due honors give; <br />Let us uprightness hide our sin, <br />And let us worth from him receive. <br />Yea, so let us by grace improve <br />What thou by nature doth bestow, <br />That to thy dwelling-place above <br />We may be raised from below.<br /><br />George Wither<br /><br />http://www.poemhunter.com/poem/lord-when-those-glorious-lights-i-see/
