Lord, Speak to Us, That We May Speak (Evangelical Lutheran Worship 676)
1 Lord, speak to us, that we may speak
in living echoes of your tone;
as you have sought, so let us seek
your straying children, lost and lone.
2 Oh, lead us, Lord, that we may lead
the wand’ring and the wav’ring feet;
oh, feed us, Lord, that we may feed
your hung’ring ones with manna sweet.
3 Oh, teach us, Lord, that we may teach
the precious truths which you impart;
and wing our words, that thy may reach
the hidden depths of many a heart.
4 Oh, fill us with your fullness, Lord,
until my very hearts o’erflow
in kindling thought and glowing word,
your love to tell, your praise to show.
Text: Frances R. Havergal; Music: Robert Schumann; Public Domain
Devotion
This hymn, written by Frances Ridley Havergal in 1872, was originally titled “A Worker’s Prayer.” It reflects a belief that service flows from being shaped first by God. To me, it echoes the psalmist’s desire expressed in Psalm 119. The hymn’s first three verses give voice to that desire.
“Speak… lead… feed… teach.” Verse after verse asks for the same thing in different forms: before we can offer anything to anyone, we need to have first received it ourselves. We speak only as an echo of a voice we’ve heard. We lead only because we’ve been led first—through wandering, uncertainty, our own need to turn back. We feed only on bread that was placed in our hands by another. We teach only truths that were first taught to us.
This pattern underlies everything we have been hearing and pondering this week: we can’t pour out what we haven’t first received.
Prayer
Lord, speak, lead, feed, and teach us, so that we might do the same for others. Amen.