This hymn is based on 1 Timothy 1:17: “Now unto the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only wise God, be honour and glory for ever and ever.”

The prevailing metaphor is light–light so glorious that it obscures the object of one’s praise. Albert Bailey calls it an “attempt to express the inexpressible.” The poem first appeared in Smith’s Hymns of Christ and the Christian Life, 1867, and, after the author made some changes, in Horder’s Congregational Hymns, 1884. Julian describes Smith’s hymns as “vigorous in thought and rich in expression.”

Walter Chalmers Smith was born December 5, 1824, at Aberdeen, Scotland, and educated at the grammar school and university of that city. After studying theology at Edinburgh, he was ordained pastor of the Scottish church on Chadwell Street, Islington, London, in 1850. After several other pastorates, in 1876 he was appointed minister of the Free High Church, Edinburgh. In 1893 he was moderator of the Assembly of the Free Church of Scotland (the beginnings of the Presbyterian Church). A book of his poetry, Poetical Works, was published in 1902. He said that writing poetry was for him, a welcome relief from the heavy burdens of being a busy pastor. He died September 20, 1908, at Kinbach, Perthshire.ST. DENIO, also known as JOANNA and PALESTRINA, is from a Welsh folk song, “A Hundred Years from Now.” The melody was also associated with another song about cuckoo. The first time it was used as a hymn tune was in Caniadau y Cyssegr, a book of praise edited by John Roberts in 1839. It was introduced to England by Ralph Vaughan William as a hymn tune in the English Hymnal, 1906. He also used this tune in the second movement of his Household Quartet: Three Preludes on Welsh Hymn Tunes, 1944. The melody is easy to learn and sing because it follows the notes of the primary chords.