Forms Vain Without the Spirit.
1 The uplifted eye and bended knee
Are but vain homage, Lord, to Thee:
In vain our lips Thy praise prolong,
The heart a stranger to the song.
2 Can rites, and forms, and flaming zeal,
The breaches of Thy precepts heal?
Or fasts and penance reconcile
Thy justice, and obtain Thy smile?
3 The pure, the humble, contrite mind,
Sincere, and to Thy will resigned,
To Thee a nobler offering yields
Than Sheba's groves, or Sharon's fields.
4 Love God and man,--this great command
Doth on eternal pillars stand;
This did Thine ancient prophets teach,
And this Thy well-beloved preach.