O Word of God incarnate

O Word of God incarnate. William Walsham How* (1823-1897). Originally published in the 1867 supplement to How and Morrell’s Psalms and Hymns (1854, enlarged 1864), and then in Church Hymns (1871), this hymn uses imagery from Psalm 119:105 (‘Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path’). The imagery of light and radiance is used throughout the hymn to contrast with the darkness of the world.  In some hymnals, the title is changed to ‘O Christ the Word incarnate’. This avoids any possible confusion between ‘the eternal Word’, the Christ to whom the hymn gives thanks, and ‘the word’ of Holy Scripture, which is the reason for the thankfulness. HP alters ‘It is the golden casket’...