Scripture Verse

What does the Lord your God ask of you but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in obedience to Him, to love Him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul. Deuteronomy 10:12

Introduction

Words: Ano­ny­mous, in The Am­er­ican Bap­tist Sab­bath-School Hymn-Book, ed­it­ed by Jo­seph A. Warne (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: Da­vid Clark, 1842), num­ber 81.

Music: Syd­ney L. Hark­key, in Augs­burg Songs (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: Lu­ther­an Pub­li­ca­tion So­ci­ety, 1885), num­ber 3 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Har­key (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Why have we lips, if not to sing
The prais­es of our heav’n­ly king?
Why have we hearts, if not to love,
Our Fa­ther and our friend above?

Refrain

What are we for? What are we for?
What are we for?
What are we for, but to serve the Lord,
With ev­ery deed, and thought and word?

Why were our cu­ri­ous bodies made,
And ev­ery part in or­der laid?
Why, but that each of us might stand
A liv­ing won­der from His hand?

Refrain

Why have we souls, if not to know
The God from whom our mer­cies flow?
Sure this can ne­ver be our lot,
Like sense­less brutes, to know Him not!

Refrain

Why have we life? If not to gain
Immortal life, ’tis worse than vain;
This is the end for which ’twas giv’n—
We live on earth, to live in Heav’n.

Refrain

Why did the Sav­ior leave the sky,
Hang on a cross, and bleed and die?
And why are kind per­sua­sions sent
To call and win us to re­pent?

Refrain

Surely it is—that robed in white
And made well-pleas­ing in His sight,
Our souls may join the hap­py throng,
And sing the ev­er­last­ing song.

Refrain