O Teach My Heart to Love Your Word
The grass withers, the flower fades, but the word of our God will stand forever (Isaiah 40:8)
Sung before or after any sermon, this hymn reminds us of a simple yet profound truth: there is a God and He has spoken. And yet we too often forget the treasure we hold in our hands. Teach our hearts, O Lord, to love Your Word.
Themes: Word of God, Prayer for Greater Devotion, Jesus
Themes: Word of God, Prayer for Greater Devotion, Jesus
LYRICS
(Please scroll down to see the Scriptures behind every line of this hymn.)
O teach my heart to love Your Word
Too long have I forgotten, Lord
O breathe in me that I might live
By every word of life You give
O teach my heart to fear Your Word
Your holy fire and lifted sword
That comes to pierce through flesh and bone
And melt away this heart of stone
O teach my heart to know Your Word
And treasure all that I have heard
O raise this everlasting seed
To bear the fruit of Christ in me
O teach my heart to trust Your Word
When troubles rise and fears are stirred
To walk by faith through gain or loss
And glory only in the Cross
O teach my heart to love Your Word
Made flesh and blood in Christ our Lord
On every page His praise is heard
O teach my heart to love Your Word
O teach my heart to love Your Word
O teach my heart to love Your Word
©2009 Abe & Liza Philip. CCLI# 5639746
THE WORD IN THE WORDS
O teach my heart to love Your Word
Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day. Psalm 119:97
Too long have I forgotten, Lord
Let your heart hold fast my words; keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom; get insight; do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. Proverbs 4:4-5
O breathe in me that I might live
All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
By every word of life You give
Simon Peter answered him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life, and we have believed, and have come to know, that you are the Holy One of God.” John 6:68-69
O teach my heart to fear Your Word
...fear the Lord your God, and be careful to do all the words of this law Deuteronomy 31:12
Your holy fire and lifted sword
Is not my word like fire, declares the Lord... Jeremiah 23:29 / ...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God Ephesians 6:17
That comes to pierce through flesh and bone
For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. Hebrews 4:12
And melt away this heart of stone
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26
O teach my heart to know Your Word
...you have been acquainted with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. 2 Timothy 3:15
And treasure all that I have heard
And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. Deuteronomy 6:6-7
O raise this everlasting seed
The seed is the word of God. Luke 8:11 / ...you have been born again, not of perishable seed but of imperishable, through the living and abiding word of God 1 Peter 1:23
To bear the fruit of Christ in me
To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Colossians 1:27
O teach my heart to trust Your Word
I trust in your word Psalm 119:42
When troubles rise and fears are stirred
When the righteous cry for help, the Lord hears and delivers them out of all their troubles. Psalm 34:17
To walk by faith through gain or loss
...we walk by faith, not by sight. 2 Corinthians 5:7
And glory only in the Cross
But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. Galatians 6:14
O teach my heart to love Your Word
In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1
Made flesh and blood in Christ our Lord
And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14
On every page His praise is heard
You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me that you may have life. John 5:39-40
And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:27
O teach my heart to love Your Word
Jesus answered him, “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him. John 14:23
©2009 Abe & Liza Philip. CCLI# 5639746
DEVOTIONAL
“Search the Scriptures.” John 5:39
The Greek word here rendered search signifies a strict, close, diligent, curious search, such as men make when they are seeking gold, or hunters when they are in earnest after game. We must not rest content with having given a superficial reading to a chapter or two, but with the candle of the Spirit we must deliberately seek out the hidden meaning of the word. Holy Scripture requires searching—much of it can only be learned by careful study. There is milk for babes, but also meat for strong men. The rabbis wisely say that a mountain of matter hangs upon every word, yea, upon every title of Scripture. Tertullian exclaims, “I adore the fullness of the Scriptures.” No man who merely skims the book of God can profit thereby; we must dig and mine until we obtain the hid treasure. The door of the word only opens to the key of diligence. The Scriptures claim searching. They are the writings of God, bearing the divine stamp and imprimatur— who shall dare to treat them with levity? He who despises them despises the God who wrote them. God forbid that any of us should leave our Bibles to become swift witnesses against us in the great day of account. The word of God will repay searching. God does not bid us sift a mountain of chaff with here and there a grain of wheat in it, but the Bible is winnowed corn—we have but to open the granary door and find it. Scripture grows upon the student. It is full of surprises. Under the teaching of the Holy Spirit, to the searching eye it glows with splendor of revelation, like a vast temple paved with wrought gold, and roofed with rubies, emeralds, and all manner of gems. No merchandise like the merchandise of Scripture truth. Lastly, the Scriptures reveal Jesus: “They are they which testify of me.” No more powerful motive can be urged upon Bible readers than this: he who finds Jesus finds life, heaven, all things. Happy he who, searching his Bible, discovers his Savior.-Charles Spurgeon
