1. "Man shall not live by bread alone,
  But by each word which doth proceed
  From God's own mouth"; these we must eat
  And let them be our life indeed.
2. Not just a body we were made,
  But body, soul, and spirit too;
  The inmost part the spirit is
  To contact God and Him pursue.
3. Just as we need the earthly food
  Our body's need to satisfy,
  We need the food for spirit too��
  Thyself, Thy Word, its true supply.
4. Thou art the Spirit, and Thy Word
  Thy very Self expressed doth make;
  Thus, it is Spirit as Thyself,
  Which by our spirit we must take.
5. Thus, to receive Thy Word is not
  To read it only with our eyes
  And understand it in our mind,
  But 'tis the spirit's exercise.
6. Thy Word in spirit we must eat
  And to our inmost part receive;
  'Tis by our spirit's exercise
  To pray with what our minds perceive.
7. Thy Word remaining in our mind
  Is only knowledge burdensome,
  But when it to the spirit goes
  Then life and spirit it becomes.
8. 'Tis only when our spirit acts
  To take Thy Word and contact Thee,
  We truly feed upon Thy Word
  And touch Thyself most inwardly.
9. Lord, teach us how to exercise
  Our spirit when Thy Word we read;
  Then will our spirit nourished be
  As thus upon Thyself we feed.