Worship — Holy Scriptures

O word of God incarnate

No. 195
Metre 7s & 6s. D.
Tune CHENIES.
Words William How.
Music T. R. Matthews,
Key G major
Singing key F major
Time 4/4
4 stanzas

Words

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 radianceThat from the hallowed page,A lamp to guide our footsteps,Shines on from age to age.

The church from her dear MasterReceived the gift divine,And still that light she liftethO'er all the earth to shine.It is the golden casketWhere gems of truth are stored,It is the heaven-drawn pictureOf Christ the living Word.

It floateth like a bannerBefore God's host unfurled,It shineth like a beaconAbove the stormy world;It is the chart and compassThat o'er life's raging sea,'Mid mists and rocks and quicksands,Still guides, O Christ, to thee!

O, make thy church, dear Saviour,A lamp of burnished gold,To bear before the nationsThy true light as of old;O, teach thy wandering pilgrimsBy this their path to trace,Till, clouds and darkness ended,They see thee face to face.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «WORSHIP—HOLY SCRIPTURES.»; hymn number «195» (large), tune name «CHENIES. 7s & 6s. D.» centred over the music, «T. R. Matthews,» at the right (capitals and small capitals; the last mark is comma-shaped, see uncertainties.md). Stanza 1 is interlinear, between the staves, one line per system, with «1.» before «O»; its verse lines are set here by the meter (7.6.7.6.7.6.7.6) and the heavy bars that close each line of the tune. Stanzas 2–4 are printed as text in the left column below the music, under the reference line «492, 246, 415.» in italics (= may also be sung to the tunes of hymns 492, 246 or 415). «William How.» in italics after stanza 4. The print sets a thin space before «;» and «!» («world ;», «old ;», «thee !»); it is closed up here. Lines 2, 4, 6 and 8 of each stanza are indented in the print. Spelling («Saviour»), punctuation and capitals are the print's.