The Word

William Walsham How (1832–1897)

O WORD of God incarnate,

O Wisdom from on high,

O Truth unchanged, unchanging,

O Light of our dark sky;

We praise thee for the radiance

That from the hallowed page,

A lantern to our footsteps,

Shines on from age to age.

The Church from thee, her Master,

Received the gift divine;

And still that light she lifteth

O’er all the earth to shine.

It is the golden casket

Where gems of truth are stored;

It is the heaven-drawn picture

Of, thee, the living Word.

It floateth like a banner

Before God’s host unfurled;

It shineth like a beacon

Above the darkling world;

It is the chart and compass

That o’er life’s surging sea,

Mid mists and rocks and quicksands,

Still guide, O Christ, to thee.

Oh, make thy Church, dear Saviour,

A lamp of burnished gold,

To bear before the nations

Thy true light, as of old.

Oh, teach thy wandering pilgrims

By this their path to trace,

Till, clouds and darkness ended,

They see thee face to face.