"God Contracted to a Span...": An Amazing Hymn Concerning the Incarnation of Our Lord

We will be singing this hymn today in our morning worship, d.v. It is a remarkable consideration of Christ's becoming man. We will be singing to the tune of LENOX.

God Contracted to a Span
Let earth and Heav’n combine, Angels and men agree,
To praise in songs divine, Th’ incarnate Deity,
Our God contracted to a span, Our God contracted to a span,
Incomprehensibly made Man.

He laid His glory by, He wrapped Him in our clay;
Unmarked by human eye, The latent Godhead lay;
Infant of days He here became, Infant of days He here became,
And bore the mild Immanuel’s Name.

See in that Infant’s face, The depths of deity,
And labor while ye gaze, To sound the mystery
In vain; ye angels gaze no more, In vain; ye angels gaze no more,
But fall, and silently adore.

Unsearchable the love, That hath the Savior brought;
The grace is far above, Of men or angels’ thought:
Suffice for us that God, we know, Suffice for us that God, we know,
Our God, is manifest below.

He deigns in flesh t’appear, Widest extremes to join;
To bring our vileness near, And make us all divine:
And we the life of God shall know, And we the life of God shall know,
For God is manifest below.

Made perfect first in love, And sanctified by grace,
We shall from earth remove, And see His glorious face:
His love shall then be fully showed, His love shall then be fully showed,
And man shall all be lost in God.

Words: Charles Wesley, Hymns for the Nativity of Our Lord (London: William Strahan, 1745), number 5. Public domain.