O Thou es­sen­tial Word,
Who wast from the be­gin­ning
With God, for Thou wast God;
Thou hope of all the sin­ning,
Chosen to save our race,
Welcome in­deed Thou art,
Redeemer, Fount of grace,
To this my long­ing heart.

Come, self-ex­ist­ent Word,
And speak Thou in my spir­it!
The soul where Thou art heard
Doth end­less peace in­her­it.
Thou light that light­en­est all,
Abide through faith in me,
Nor let me from Thee fall,
And seek no guide but Thee.

Ah! what hath stirred Thy heart,
What cry hath mount­ed thi­ther,
And reached Thy hea­ven­ly throne,
And drawn Thee, Sav­ior, hi­ther?
It was Thy won­drous love,
And my most ut­ter need,
Made Thy com­pass­ions move,
Stronger than death in­deed.

Then let me give my heart
To Him who loved me, whol­ly;
And live, while here I dwell,
To show His prais­es sole­ly;
Yes, Je­sus, form anew
This sto­ny heart of mine,
Make it till death still true
To Thee, for ev­er Thine.

Let naught be left with­in
But what Thy hand hath plant­ed;
Root out the weeds of sin,
And quell the foe who haunt­ed
My soul, and set the tares;
From Thee comes no­thing ill,
O save me from his snares,
Make plain my path­way still.

Thou art the Life, O Lord,
And Thou its light art on­ly!
Let not Thy bless­èd rays
Still leave me dark and lone­ly.
Star of the East, arise!
Drive all my clouds away,
Till earth’s dim twi­light dies
Into the per­fect day!