The Cyber Hymnal ‎#14438

14438. O Lord Our Banner (Jehovah-Nissi)

1 O Lord our banner, God of might,
Who wast with Joshua in the fight,
And Moses on the hill,
Be with Thy servants far away,
Their shield by night, their guide by day,
To succor them from ill.

2 For husband, brother, son, and sire,
We raise up hands that never tire
On this our mount of prayer;
Thou knowest, we but dimly guess,
That day’s long toil, the night’s distress,
And all they do and bear.

3 The battle’s issue hangs on Thee;
In Thy firm hand the scales we see
Of mortal loss and gain:
And tidings carried swift as thought
’Twixt land and land to Thee are naught
But Thine own will made plain.

4 Giver of strength, O bless and aid
Thy servants ’gainst the foe arrayed;
Go forth with them to fight!
In battle’s storm their shelter be;
Thy Spirit grant, of unity,
Of counsel, and of might.

5 Watch o’er the wounded in the field,
And, where the sick and dying yield
Their souls, do Thou be nigh!
Give peace within the heart distressed,
And peace on earth, and, last and best,
Thy peace beyond the sky.

Text Information

• First Line: O Lord our banner, God of might
• Title: O Lord Our Banner (Jehovah-Nissi)
• Author: Elizabeth Wordsworth (1885)
• Language: English
• Copyright: Public Domain
• Notes: To the best of my know­ledge and be­lief, I wrote it in the win­ter of 1884–5, when the ex­cite­ment about Gen­er­al Gor­don was at its height…The lines Je­ho­vah-Nis­si ap­peared in the Guar­di­an of Jan. 21. 1885, signed Ve­ri­tas. This is our fa­mi­ly mot­to, and as such was well known to my own fa­mi­ly circle… The hymn was fre­quent­ly print­ed as a leaf­let, and en­ti­tled Je­ho­vah-Nis­si. A hymn for our Sol­diers. It was in­clud­ed in Church [Hymns], 1903. Julian, p. 1729

Tune Information

• Name: JEHOVAH-NISSI
• Composer: George John Bennett (1903)
• Key: E♭ Major
• Copyright: Public Domain