Lyrics
Two Wisdoms
These words are here to be learned and sung. Play the recording above and follow the highlighted line, or simply use the lyrics as a hymn text.
Verse
Who is the wise, discerning soul?
Let works, not words, be shown;
for meekness is the wiser goal
than any boast we own.
Two wisdoms call along the road,
two voices in the street;
one carries heaven’s gentle load,
one draws us to defeat.
Chorus
O give me wisdom from above,
first pure, then gentle, kind;
and let the mercy of that love
leave envy far behind.
Verse
There is a wisdom, hard and cold,
that never leaves the ground;
it worships power, place, and gold
where strife and pride abound.
At Babel rose a tower tall
to make the builders’ name;
confusion came and scattered all,
abandoned to their shame.
Chorus
O give me wisdom from above,
first pure, then gentle, kind;
and let the mercy of that love
leave envy far behind.
Verse
Two trees in Eden’s garden stood:
one life, and one of woe;
the first bore wisdom, pure and good,
worth more than gold below.
The serpent lied; they all believed:
“as gods, with opened eyes”;
they took the fruit, and soon perceived
how wisdom turns to lies.
Chorus
O give me wisdom from above,
first pure, then gentle, kind;
and let the mercy of that love
leave envy far behind.
Verse
In Babylon a captive stood
with wisdom not his own;
he read the dreams no wise man could,
and bowed to God alone.
The crafty men who watched him kneel
laid snares they thought were wise;
but lions’ mouths that God can seal
made fools of clever eyes.
Bridge
The princes of this world were blind:
they nailed Him to the tree;
but there the wisdom none could find
was hung for all to see.
For Christ is made our life and light,
our wisdom, whole and new;
and what the wise called loss and night
was God’s own wisdom true.
Verse
But wisdom from the Father falls
like light on waking eyes;
it answers gently when it calls
and never wears disguise.
It bends to hear the wounded plea,
it shows no partial face;
its mercy sets the debtor free
and fills the room with grace.
Chorus
O give me wisdom from above,
first pure, then gentle, kind;
and let the mercy of that love
leave envy far behind.
Music and lyrics: Public Domain / CC0 1.0 Universal · Sound recording: Public Domain / CC0 1.0 Universal.