How shall the young se­cure their hearts,
And guard their lives from sin?
Thy Word the choic­est rules im­parts
To keep the con­science clean.

When once it en­ters to the mind,
It spreads such light abroad,
The meanest souls in­struct­ion find,
And raise their thoughts to God.

’Tis, like the sun, a heav’n­ly light
That guides us all the day,
And thro’ the dan­gers of the night,
A lamp to lead our way.

The men that keep Thy law with care,
And me­di­tate Thy Word,
Grow wiser than their teach­ers are,
And bet­ter know the Lord.

Thy pre­cepts make me tru­ly wise;
I hate the sin­ner’s road;
I hate my own vain thoughts that rise,
But love Thy law, my God.

The star­ry heav’ns Thy rule ob­ey,
The earth main­tains her place;
And these Thy ser­vants night and day,
Thy skill and pow­er ex­press.

But still Thy law and Gos­pel, Lord,
Have les­sons more di­vine;
Not earth stands firm­er than Thy Word,
Nor stars so nob­ly shine.

Thy Word is ev­er­last­ing truth;
How pure is ev­ery page!
That ho­ly Book shall guide our youth,
And well sup­port our age.