Worship and Service Hymnal ‎#468

468. Once to Every Man and Nation

1 Once to every man and nation
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with 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 forever
'Twixt that darkness and that light.

2 By the light of burning martyrs,
Jesus' bleeding feet I 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.

3 Though the cause of evil prosper,
Yet the truth alone is strong:
Tho' her portion be the scaffold,
Wrong forever on the throne,
Yet that scaffold sways the future,
And, behind the dim unknown,
Standeth God within the shadow,
Keeping watch above His own.

Amen.

Text Information

• First Line: Once to every man and nation
• Title: Once to Every Man and Nation
• Author: James Russell Lowell, 1819-1891 (alt. )
• Language: English
• Publication Date: 1957
• Topic: Citizenship, Christian; God the Father: His Sovereignty; Memorial Day; National Righteousness; Righteousness; Social Betterment
• Notes: Alternate tune: AUSTRIAN HYMN, No. 171

Tune Information

• Name: EBENEZER (Toy-Y-Botel)
• Composer: Thomas John Williams, 1869-1944
• Key: f minor
• Copyright: Music by permission of Gwenlyn Evans, Ltd.
• Notes: Now Public Domain