Words: , 1757 (Wer Gottes Wort nicht hält; trans­lat­ed from Ger­man to Eng­lish by , Ly­ra Ger­man­i­ca, se­cond ser­ies, 1858, p. 161.

Music: Meir­ing­en, , 1777. Al­ter­nate tunes:

  • O Jesu, Evan­gel­isch­es Ge­sang­buch (Hirsch­berg, Ger­ma­ny: 1741)
  • Wessex, in The Pres­by­ter­i­an Hymn­al (Phil­a­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: The Pres­by­ter­ian Board of Pub­li­ca­tion, 1874)

Who keepeth not God’s Word, yet saith,
“I know the Lord,” is wrong;
In him is not that blessèd faith
Through which the truth is strong;
But he who hears and keeps the Word,
Is not of this world, but of God.

The faith His Word hath caused to shine
Will kindle love in thee;
More wouldst thou know of things divine,
Deeper thy love must be;
True faith not only gives thee light,
But strength to love and do the right.

Jesus hath washed away our sin,
And we are children now;
Who feels such hope as this within,
To evil cannot bow;
Rather with Christ all scorn endure,
So we be like our Maker pure!

For he doth please the Father well
Who simply can obey;
In him the love of God doth dwell
Who steadfast keeps His way;
A daily active life of love,
Such fruits a living faith must prove.

He is in God, and God in him,
Who still abides in love;
’Tis love that makes the cherubim
Obey and praise above;
For God is love, the loveless heart
Hath in His life and joy no part.