1. Walk in the light! and you will know
That fellowship of love
His Spirit only can bestow,
Who reigns in light above.
2. Walk in the light! and sin, despised,
Shall never rule again;
The blood of Jesus Christ, your Lord,
Shall cleanse from ev'ry stain.
3. Walk in the light! and you will find
A heart made truly his,
Who dwells in cloudless light enshrined
In whom no darkness is.
4. Walk in the light! and you will view
A path, tho' thorny, bright;
For God, by grace will dwell with you,
And God himself is light!
Source: Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship #123b
Barton, Bernard, commonly known as the "Quaker Poet," was born in London Jan. 31, 1784, and educated at a Quaker school at Ipswich. In 1798 he was apprenticed to Mr. S. Jesup, a shopkeeper at Halstead, Essex, with whom he remained until 1806, when he removed to Woodbridge, Suffolk, and entered into business with his brother, as a coal and corn merchant. On the death of his wife at the end of the first year of their married life, he proceeded to Liverpool, where he acted as a private tutor for a short time. He returned to Woodbridge in 1810, where he secured an engagement in the local bank of the Messrs. Alexander. This appointment he held for 40 years. He died at Woodbridge, Feb. 19, 1849. During the same year his daughter published his Poe… Go to person page >| First Line: | Walk in the light: so shalt thou know |
| Title: | Walk in the Light |
| Author: | Bernard Barton (1826) |
| Meter: | 8.6.8.6 |
| Language: | English |
| Refrain First Line: | Walk in the light, Walk in the light |
| Copyright: | Public Domain |
Walk in the light! So shalt thou know. B. Barton. [Walk in the light]. Appeared in his Devotional Verses, 1826, p. 242, 6 stanzas of 4 lines, with the quoted text I. John, i. 7. In various collections the opening line is altered to "Walk in the light and thou shalt know," and st. ii. is omitted. The form in The Baptist Church Hymnal, 1900, begins with st. iv., "Walk in the light! and thou shalt own." The order is st. iv., ii., iii., i., v. and vi. rewritten. We feel that very few editors will follow this arrangement and doubtful improvement of the author's text.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, New Supplement (1907)
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