Wonderful Words of Life is a gospel hymn, words and music by Philip P. Bliss, first published in 1874. It begins Sing them over again to me, wonderful words of Life, and its refrain is Beautiful words, wonderful words, wonderful words of Life. The hymn praises the words of Jesus as the source of eternal life, echoing Peter's confession in John 6:68: Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. Its three verses move from personal delight in Christ's words, to His invitation to sinners, to the call for the church to echo the gospel to all.
Philip Bliss was one of the most gifted gospel songwriters of the 1800s. He wrote both words and tunes for hymns still sung today, including Hold the Fort, Let the Lower Lights Be Burning, Hallelujah, What a Saviour! and the music for It Is Well with My Soul. He died at 38, with his wife, in the Ashtabula railroad bridge disaster in December 1876. Wonderful Words of Life was written two years earlier, and Ira Sankey made it one of the favorite songs of the Moody campaigns. It is simple enough for children and deep enough for a lifetime. Each verse gives the words of life a different role: they teach, they invite, they sanctify. Below are the three verses and refrain as printed in 1894, followed by 12 KJV passages on the words that give life.
Wonderful Words of Life: the words
Verse 1
Sing them over again to me,
Wonderful words of Life,
Let me more of their beauty see,
Wonderful words of Life.
Words of life and beauty,
Teach me faith and duty;
Refrain:
Beautiful words, wonderful words,
Wonderful words of Life.
Verse 2
Christ, the blessed One, gives to all
Wonderful words of Life;
Sinner, list to the loving call,
Wonderful words of Life.
All so freely given,
Wooing us to heaven;
Refrain:
Beautiful words, wonderful words,
Wonderful words of Life.
Verse 3
Sweetly echo the gospel call,
Wonderful words of Life;
Offer pardon and peace to all,
Wonderful words of Life.
Jesus, only Saviour,
Sanctify forever;
Refrain:
Beautiful words, wonderful words,
Wonderful words of Life.
Words and music: Philip P. Bliss (1838-1876), first published in 1874. Text copied from Gospel Hymns Nos. 1 to 6 Complete (New York and Chicago, 1894), hymn 679 (Internet Archive scan), where the last two lines of each verse (printed here as the refrain) carry repeat marks and are sung twice. Public domain.
Wonderful words of Life: thou hast the words of eternal life
1. John 6:68
"Then Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life."
This is the verse behind the whole hymn. After Jesus said hard things about Himself as the bread of life, many disciples left. He asked the twelve, Will ye also go away? Peter answered, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. Peter did not understand everything Jesus had said. But he knew there was nowhere else to go. Other teachers had words; only Jesus had words of eternal life. That is what Bliss means by wonderful. The words of Christ are not only true and beautiful. They give life that no other words can give.
2. John 6:63
"It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing: the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life."
Just before Peter's confession Jesus said, the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life. The people had taken His words about eating His flesh in a crude, physical way. Jesus explains that His words are spiritual, and that the Spirit uses them to give life. It is the spirit that quickeneth; the flesh profiteth nothing. Quickeneth means makes alive. This is why Bliss can call them words of Life with a capital L. Christ's words are not merely information about life. Through the Spirit, they are the means by which God gives it.
3. John 1:4
"In him was life; and the life was the light of men."
John's Gospel begins by calling Jesus the Word, and says, In him was life; and the life was the light of men. The words of life come from the One who is life. This is the deepest reason the hymn can sing of wonderful words. When we read the words of Christ, we are not just reading good advice. We are hearing the Word Himself, the eternal Son through whom all things were made. His life shines into human darkness through what He says. That is why the hymn asks to see more of their beauty. In them we see Him.
4. Philippians 2:16
"Holding forth the word of life; that I may rejoice in the day of Christ, that I have not run in vain, neither laboured in vain."
Paul tells the Philippians to shine as lights in a dark world, Holding forth the word of life. To hold forth means to hold out, to offer, the way you would hold out a lamp or a cup of water. This is exactly what Bliss's third verse asks: Sweetly echo the gospel call. The words of life are not meant to stay inside church walls or private devotions. Believers receive them in order to offer them. Paul says that seeing others receive the word would be his joy in the day of Christ, proof that he had not run in vain.
Words of life and beauty, teach me faith and duty
5. Psalms 119:103
"How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth!"
The first verse asks to see more of the beauty of God's words. The psalmist felt the same: How sweet are thy words unto my taste! yea, sweeter than honey to my mouth! Honey was the sweetest thing known in the ancient world. God's word is not only something to obey. It is something to enjoy. People who find the Bible dry can pray this verse back to God and ask Him to make His words sweet to them. Bliss's opening line, Sing them over again to me, has the same appetite. We do not tire of food we love; we ask for it again.
6. Psalms 119:130
"The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple."
The entrance of thy words giveth light; it giveth understanding unto the simple. The words of life teach. Bliss says they teach faith and duty, what to believe and how to live. The simple in this psalm are not unintelligent people but those who are open, untrained, easily led. God's word gives them understanding. You do not need a degree to grasp the words of life; you need them to enter. This is why Wonderful Words of Life has always been a children's favorite. The gospel is simple enough for a child and deep enough to fill a lifetime of study.
7. Romans 10:17
"So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God."
Bliss's first verse says the words of life teach me faith. Paul explains how: So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God. Faith is not something we produce by trying harder to believe. It grows as we hear what God has said, above all the word about Christ. That is why the hymn asks, Sing them over again to me. Repetition is not a waste. Every time the gospel is heard again, faith is fed. This is also why Paul says preachers must be sent (Romans 10:15): people cannot believe what they have never heard.
8. 2 Timothy 3:16-17
"All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works."
Paul tells Timothy that All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness. Inspiration means God-breathed. The words of Scripture are as much from God as the breath of life He breathed into Adam. Notice what they are profitable for: teaching truth, exposing error, correcting what is wrong and training in what is right. That is faith and duty. And the purpose: That the man of God may be perfect, throughly furnished unto all good works. The words of life equip us to live.
Sinner, list to the loving call: the words offered to all
9. Revelation 22:17
"And the Spirit and the bride say, Come. And let him that heareth say, Come. And let him that is athirst come. And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely."
Bliss's second verse says Christ gives to all wonderful words of life, and calls, Sinner, list to the loving call. The last invitation in the Bible says the same: And the Spirit and the bride say, Come ... And whosoever will, let him take the water of life freely. The bride is the church. Together with the Spirit she calls sinners to Christ. Notice the words whosoever and freely. No one is excluded, and nothing is charged. This is the meaning of All so freely given, wooing us to heaven. God woos; He does not force. His words are an invitation of love.
10. Isaiah 55:3
"Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David."
Long before Jesus, God invited His people: Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live. The connection between hearing and living is the theme of Bliss's hymn. List, in the old English of the second verse, means listen. God does not ask for great achievements before He gives life. He asks us to listen and come. The rest of the verse promises an everlasting covenant, the sure mercies of David, fulfilled in Christ, David's greater Son (Acts 13:34). The words of life are backed by a covenant God will never break.
11. Acts 5:20
"Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life."
When the apostles were jailed for preaching, an angel opened the prison doors at night and told them, Go, stand and speak in the temple to the people all the words of this life. The message of the gospel is called the words of this life: the new life the risen Christ gives. The apostles had just been arrested for speaking it, and the angel sent them straight back to speak it again. Bliss's third verse, Sweetly echo the gospel call, offer pardon and peace to all, carries the same commission. The words of life are meant to be spoken.
12. John 17:17
"Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth."
The hymn's last verse prays, Jesus, only Saviour, sanctify forever. Jesus Himself prayed for His disciples the night before He died: Sanctify them through thy truth: thy word is truth. To sanctify means to set apart for God and make holy. Jesus says the means is God's word. The same words that give life also shape it. Christians become holy not by escaping the world but by being filled with the truth of God's word while they live in it. That is why the wonderful words of life must be sung over again, every day of the Christian life.
A short prayer
Lord Jesus, to whom else shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. Sing them over again to me. Let me see more of their beauty and taste their sweetness. Teach me faith and duty through Your word, and make it a light to my path. Thank You that Your words are freely given to all and that You call even sinners like me. Sanctify me through Your truth, and help me to hold forth the word of life to others. In Your name, Amen.
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Frequently asked questions
Who wrote Wonderful Words of Life?
Philip Paul Bliss (1838-1876) wrote both the words and the music. It was first published in 1874 and became widely known through Ira D. Sankey's singing at D. L. Moody's meetings. Bliss also wrote Hallelujah, What a Saviour! and Let the Lower Lights Be Burning, and composed the tune for It Is Well with My Soul.
What Bible verse is Wonderful Words of Life based on?
The hymn is based on John 6:68, where Peter says to Jesus, Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life. It also echoes John 6:63 (the words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life) and Philippians 2:16 (holding forth the word of life).
What does list to the loving call mean?
List is an old English word for listen. The line Sinner, list to the loving call invites anyone who has not yet trusted Christ to listen to His invitation of love. It echoes Isaiah 55:3, Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live.
Is Wonderful Words of Life in the public domain?
Yes. Bliss's words and tune were published in 1874 and are in the public domain in the United States. Modern arrangements and recordings may be under copyright, but the original three verses and refrain may be printed and sung freely.
Sources: All Scripture quotations are from the King James Version (KJV), public domain in the United States. References were checked against the KJV text from bible-api.com.
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