Service Book and Hymnal of the Lutheran Church in America ‎#547

547. Once to every man and nation

1 Once to every man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth and falsehood,
For the good or evil side;
Some great cause, God's new messiah,
Offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by for ever
'Twixt that darkness and that light.

2 Then to side with truth is noble,
When we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit,
And 'tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses,
While the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue
Of the faith they had denied.

3 By the light of burning martyrs,
Christ, thy bleeding feet we track,
Toiling up new Calvaries ever
With the Cross that turns not back.
New occasions teach new duties;
Time makes ancient good uncouth;
They must upward still and onward
Who would keep abreast of truth.

4 Though the cause of evil prosper,
Yet 'tis truth alone is strong;
Though her portion be the scaffold
And upon the throne be wrong,
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
And, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow,
Keeping watch above his own.

Text Information

• First Line: Once to every man and nation
• Author: James Russell Lowell, 1819 - 91
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1958
• Topic: The Propagation of the Gospel; City, Nation, World; The Life In Christ: Conflict and Victory; The Life In Christ: Service

Tune Information

• Name: EBENEZER (TON-Y-BOTEL)
• Composer: Thomas John Williams, 1869 - 1944
• Meter: 8 7, 8 7. D.
• Key: f minor
• Copyright: Music by permission of Gwenlyn Evans, Ltd.