He sits and he stares At the precious metal there And he knows exactly what he's looking for Iff he should ever find The slightest flaw of any kind Then he'll increase the heat a little more It takes a little while But it always brings a smile When he sees it's almost ready for the mold The purging is complete When he takes it from the heat And he sees his own reflection in the gold The refiner's fire it burns away the dross Working his desire to keep us near the cross To make the purest vessel that the father can admire We must go through his refiner's fire Lord, I felt your stare When you saw me lyin' there But a worthless stone is nothing to desire You touched me tenderly And you began a work in me But it took so long to understand the fire And now I see that o'er the years Through the trials and the tears You were working to remove impurities And Lord, I humbly pray That each and every day You see a little more of you and less of me The refiner's fire it burns away the dross Working his desire to keep us near the cross To make the purest vessel that the father can admire We must go through his refiner's fire We must go through his refiner's fire