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One Thing I of the Lord Desire
Verse 1
One thing I of the Lord desire,
For all my paths have miry been,
Be it by water or by fire,
O make me clean,
O make me clean.
For all my paths have miry been,
Be it by water or by fire,
O make me clean,
O make me clean.
Refrain
So wash me Thou, without, within,
Or purge with fire, if that must be,
No matter how, if only sin
Die out in me, die out in me.
Or purge with fire, if that must be,
No matter how, if only sin
Die out in me, die out in me.
Verse 2
If clearer vision Thou impart,
Grateful and glad my soul shall be;
But yet to have a purer heart,
Is more to me,
Is more to me.
Grateful and glad my soul shall be;
But yet to have a purer heart,
Is more to me,
Is more to me.
Verse 3
Yea, only as this heart is clean
May larger vision yet be mine,
For mirrored in Thy life are seen
The things divine,
The things divine.
May larger vision yet be mine,
For mirrored in Thy life are seen
The things divine,
The things divine.
Verse 4
I watch to shun the miry way,
And stanch the springs of guilty thought,
But watch and struggle as I may,
Pure I am not,
Pure I am not.
And stanch the springs of guilty thought,
But watch and struggle as I may,
Pure I am not,
Pure I am not.
Chisholm's prayer hymn expresses the desire for God's presence as the primary blessing of faith.