423 Immortal, Invisible, God Only Wise

A great hymnologist, Erik Routley called this a wonderfully plump hymn full of polysyllabic attempts to describe an indescribable God. The hymns was actually inspired by the apostle Paul's words to young Timothy:  "now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honor and glory forever and ever." (1 Timothy 1:17, KJV) 

Walter Chalmers Smith, the author of the text,was a pastor in the Free Church of Scotland from 1850-1894. This is yet another case of this being the only hymn was have ascribed to someone who in his lifetime was responsible for many others.

In 20th and 21st century Christianity, there has been much emphasis and the relational side of God.  We have lost some of the "awe-fullness" of god. i.e. He is full of awe and worthy to be praised and worshiped.  We need to catch glimpses of God's incredible character and in these wonderful stanzas, we who "wither and perish" come face-to-face with our immortal, invisible unchanging God. The good news is that this almost indescribable God is willing to have a relationship with us and He loves us dearly. 

The hymn tune we use with this text is the Welsh hymn, St. Denio. This tune originally appeared in the Welsh hymnal, Caniadau y Cyssegr in 1839.  The version we usually use now was arranged by John Roberts in the English Hymnal, 1906.