Glory to God ‎#450

450. Be Thou My Vision

1 Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart;
naught be all else to me, save that thou art;
thou my best thought, by day or by night,
waking or sleeping, thy presence my light.

2 Be thou my wisdom, and thou my true Word;
I ever with thee and thou with me, Lord;
thou my soul’s shelter, and thou my high tower;
raise thou me heavenward, O Power of my power.

3 Riches I heed not, nor vain, empty praise;
thou, mine inheritance, now and always;
thou and thou only, first in my heart,
High King of Heaven, my treasure thou art.

4 High King of Heaven, my victory won,
may I reach heaven’s joys, O bright heaven’s Sun!
Heart of my own heart, whatever befall,
still be my vision, O Ruler of all.

Text Information

• First Line: Be thou my vision, O Lord of my heart
• Title: Be Thou My Vision
• Translator: Mary E. Byrne (1905)
• Versifier: Eleanor Hull (1912, alt.)
• Meter: 10.10.10.10
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 2013
• Scripture:
  Psalm 17:15
  ;
  Psalm 73:25
  ;
  Psalm 139:17-18
  ;
  Matthew 13:44
  ;
  Matthew 19:21
  ;
  John 14:20
  ;
  John 15:4-5
  ;
  John 17:21
  ;
  1 Corinthians 8:6
  ;
  2 Corinthians 3:1-6
  ;
  Philippians 3:7
  ;
  Hebrews 7:226
  ;
  1 John 4:13
• Topic: Christian Year: Ash Wednesday; Commitment; Dying in Christ; Light; Living in Christ; Scripture; Teaching/Education; The Word; Wisdom; Youth
• Source: Irish poem

Tune Information

• Name: SLANE
• Harmonizer: David Evans (1927)
• Meter: 10.10.10.10
• Key: E♭ Major
• Source: Irish ballad
• Copyright: Harm. © 1927 Oxford University Press
• Notes: Guitar chords do not correspond with keyboard harmony.

Text Information:

These stanzas are selected from a 20th-century English poetic version of an Irish monastic prayer dating to the 10th century or before. They are set to an Irish folk melody that has proved popular and easily sung despite its lack of repetition and its wide range.