1  "Man shall not live by bread alone,

    But by each word which doth proceed

    From God's own mouth"; these we must eat

    And let them be our life indeed.

 2  Not just a body we were made,

    But body, soul, and spirit too;

    The inmost part the spirit is

    To contact God and Him pursue.

 3  Just as we need the earthly food

    Our body's need to satisfy,

    We need the food for spirit too —

    Thyself, Thy Word, its true supply.

 4  Thou art the Spirit, and Thy Word

    Thy very Self expressed doth make;

    Thus, it is Spirit as Thyself,

    Which by our spirit we must take.

 5  Thus, to receive Thy Word is not

    To read it only with our eyes

    And understand it in our mind,

    But 'tis the spirit's exercise.

 6  Thy Word in spirit we must eat

    And to our inmost part receive;

    'Tis by our spirit's exercise

    To pray with what our minds perceive.

 7  Thy Word remaining in our mind

    Is only knowledge burdensome,

    But when it to the spirit goes

    Then life and spirit it becomes.

 8  'Tis only when our spirit acts

    To take Thy Word and contact Thee,

    We truly feed upon Thy Word

    And touch Thyself most inwardly.

 9  Lord, teach us how to exercise

    Our spirit when Thy Word we read;

    Then will our spirit nourished be

    As thus upon Thyself we feed.