Whether the Word be preached or read,
No sav­ing be­ne­fit I gain
From emp­ty sounds or let­ters dead;
Unprofitable all and vain,
Unless by faith Thy Word I hear
And see its hea­ven­ly char­ac­ter.

Unmixed with faith, the Scrip­ture gives
No com­fort, life, or light to see,
But me in dark­er dark­ness leaves,
Implunged in deep­er mi­se­ry,
Overwhelmed with na­ture’s sor­est ills,
The Spir­it saves, the let­ter kills.

If God en­light­en through His Word,
I shall my kind En­light­en­er bless;
But void and nak­ed of my Lord,
What are all ver­bal pro­mis­es?
Nothing to me, till faith di­vine
Inspire, in­speak, and make them mine.

Jesus, the ap­pro­pri­at­ing grace
’Tis Thine on sin­ners to be­stow.
Open mine eyes to see Thy face,
Open my heart Thy­self to know.
And then I through Thy Word ob­tain
Sure pre­sent, and eter­nal gain.