Words: , 2004 (released to the public domain):
I wrote [this hymn] while in Glasgow [Scotland] under the ministry of C. Peter White at Sandyford-Henderson Church of Scotland. Mr. White regularly defended the authority of scripture…and I wrote it as an encouragement to him.
Music: Lex Noster, Joshua F. Drake, 2004 (released to the public domain). Alternate tunes:
The Holy Word of God:
It is the Christian’s rule
To teach, correct, rebuke and train—
The Church’s priceless jewel.
Let others rule by whim
Their lives from day to day.
God’s children have his Holy Word,
Which gladly they obey.
God-breathed, yet penned by man,
Preserved by arms and art,
The Church has born it in her breast—
She dare not from it part!
Nor could she ever do,
Else truth she could not know,
But set adrift in lies and myth
On wayward paths to go.
Yet we’ve no cause to fear.
God’s promises are true.
The gates of hell will not prevail
O’er those His grace imbues.
So let God’s true Church sing:
Those who His word do love—
Whom, as is written, shall be saved
To join His courts above.