Break Thou the Bread of Life

1  

Break thou the bread of life, dear Lord, to me,  

As thou didst break the loaves beside the sea;  

Beyond the sacred page I seek thee, Lord;  

My spirit pants for thee, O living Word!  

2  

Bless thou the truth, dear Lord, to me, to me,  

As thou didst bless the bread by Galilee;  

Then shall all bondage cease, all fetters fall,  

And I shall find my peace, my all in all.

3

Thou art the bread of life, O Lord, to me,

Thy holy Word the truth that saveth me;

Give me to eat and live with Thee above;

Teach me to love Thy truth, for Thou art love.

4

O send Thy Spirit, Lord, now unto me,

That He may touch my eyes and make me see;

Show me the truth concealed within Thy word,

And in Thy Book revealed I see the Lord.

    

Lyrics: Mary Ann Lathbury

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gSS2KCvrZWg&list=RDgSS2KCvrZWg&start_radio=1

    

He that hath my commandments, and keepeth them, he it is that loveth me. -- John 14:21

Matthew 14:15  And when it was evening, his disciples came to him, saying, This is a desert place, and the time is now past; send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals. 16 But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat. 17 And they say unto him, We have here but five loaves, and two fishes. 18 He said, Bring them hither to me. 19 And he commanded the multitude to sit down on the grass, and took the five loaves, and the two fishes, and looking up to heaven, he blessed, and brake, and gave the loaves to his disciples, and the disciples to the multitude. 20 And they did all eat, and were filled: and they took up of the fragments that remained twelve baskets full. 21 And they that had eaten were about five thousand men, beside women and children. 

* * *

AUTHOR'S NOTES: I have sometimes heard this hymn used as the song before the communion service (The Lord's Supper). However, that is based on a misunderstanding of the meaning of the lyric, in which the "bread of life" is the word of God. Therefore, it more appropriate to use it as the song before the sermon. 

THE BIBLE 

One of the first songs I ever learned, very early in life, was this:        "The B-I-B-L-E   Yes that's the book for me.   I stand alone on the Word of God   The B-I-B-L-E"    

The history of the Restoration Movement, the genesis of the Church of Christ and other fundamentalist Christian denominations rests on one central premise:    

“Where the Scriptures speak, we speak; and where the Scriptures are silent, we are silent.” 

-- Thomas Campbell    

It is not surprising, then, that many gospel songs emphasize the importance of the Bible as our sole guide for personal faith and standard of  doctrine for the church.