SINCE FIRST THY WORD.
Reading edition
(AIR.—NICHOLAS FREEMAN.)
Since first Thy Word awaked my heart, Like new life dawning o'er me, Where'er I turn mine eyes, Thou art, All light and love before me. Naught else I feel, or hear or see— All bonds of earth I sever— Thee, O God, and only Thee I live for, now and ever.
Like him whose fetters dropt away When light shone o'er his prison,[1] My spirit, touched by Mercy's ray, Hath from her chains arisen. And shall a soul Thou bidst be free, Return to bondage?—never! Thee, O God, and only Thee I live for, now and ever.
[1] "And, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him, and a light shined in the prison…and his chains fell off from his hands."—Acts, xii. 7.