Music & HymnsO Could I Speak The Matchless Worth

"How good it is to sing praises to our God." Psalm 147:1

Words: Samuel Medley; first appeared in Hymns: The Public Worship and Private Devotions of True Christians, Assisted in some Thoughts and Verse; Principally Drawn from Select Passages of the Word of God, 1789 (enlarged edition, 1794).

Music: "Ariel," Lowell Mason, 1836

Courtesy of Yale Divinity Library

Note: Some hymnals attribute the tune to Mozart, and the beginning of the first phrase does resemble the opening of the duet "Bei MSnnern, welche Liebe" for Papageno and Pamina in Mozart's "Die Zauberfl÷te." However, the remainder of the melody is Mason's own.

O could I speak the matchless worth,
O could I sound the glories forth which in my Savior shine!
I'd sing His glorious righteousness, and magnify the wondrous grace
Which made salvation mine, which made salvation mine.

I'd sing the precious blood He spilt,
My ransom from the dreadful guilt of sin, and wrath divine;
I'd sing His glorious righteousness, in which all perfect, heavenly dress
My soul shall ever shine, my soul shall ever shine.

I'd sing the characters He bears,
And all the forms of love He wears, exalted on His throne;
In loftiest songs of sweetest praise, I would to everlasting days
Make all His glories known, make all His glories known.

Soon, the delightful day will come
When my dear Lord will bring me home, and I shall see His face;
Then with my Savior, Brother, Friend, a blessed eternity I'll spend,
Triumphant in His grace, triumphant in His grace.

The original first verse:

Oh could I speak the matchless worth,
Oh could I sound the glories forth,
Which in my Saviour shine!
I'd soar, and touch the heavenly strings
And vie with Gabriel while he sings
In notes almost divine.

Hymns supplied through the gracious generosity of the Cyber Hymnal Website