Flow Forth, My Tongue, in Song

Flow forth, my tongue, in song,
With gracious words and sweet;
A well of strife thou wast for long,
To bitterness wast fleet,
But now thy God thy streams amends
And healing to thy fountains sends.

Rise up, O tongue of fire,
My soul with sin is dark;
God doth thy melody inspire,
Now lend thy little spark.
Thou canst a matter great ignite
So bring thy Saviour's praise to light!

Come forth, my lifeless tongue
Thy King demands my praise;
His glories have not all been sung
Who holdeth endless days.
Awake! be silent nevermore,
But ceaselessly thy God adore!

—On James 3:2–12

I wrote this to an extended version of "Festal Hymn" that isnt quite good but also gets stuck in my head a decade later. —ZCP 4/1/25