God is a Spirit: and they that worship Him must worship Him in spirit and in truth.
John 4:24
Words: Isaac Watts, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book 1, 1707, number 136. Sincerity and hypocrisy; or, Formality in worship.
Music: Armenia Sylvanus B. Pond, in The Musical Miscellany, edited by Thomas Hastings & Ezra Collier (New York: 1836) (🔊 pdf nwc).
Alternate Tunes:
If you know where to get a good photo of Pond (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
God is a Spirit, just and wise
He sees our inmost mind;
In vain to Heav’n we raise our cries,
And leave our souls behind.
Nothing but truth before His throne
With honor can appear;
The painted hypocrites are known
Through the disguise they wear.
Their lifted eyes salute the skies,
Their bended knees the ground;
But God abhors the sacrifice
Where not the heart is found.
Lord, search my thoughts, and try my ways,
And make my soul sincere;
Then shall I stand before Thy face,
And find acceptance there.