1 Go forward, Christian soldier,
Beneath His banner true!
The Lord Himself, thy Leader,
Shall all thy foes subdue.
His love foretells thy trials;
He knows thine hourly need;
He can with bread of heaven
Thy fainting spirit feed.
2 Go forward, Christian soldier!
Fear not the secret foe;
Far more o'er thee are watching
Than human eyes can know;
Trust only Christ, thy Captain;
Cease not to watch and pray;
Heed not the treacherous voices
That lure thy soul astray.
3 Go forward, Christian soldier!
Nor dream of peaceful rest,
Till Satan's host is vanquished
And heaven is all possessed;
Till Christ Himself shall call thee
To lay thine armor by,
And wear in endless glory
The crown of victory.
4 Go forward, Christian soldier!
Fear not the gathering night:
The Lord has been thy shelter;
The Lord will be thy light.
When morn His face revealeth,
Thy dangers all are past:
Oh, pray that faith and virtue
May keep thee to the last!
The Hymnal: revised and enlarged as adopted by the General Convention of the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America in the year of our Lord 1892
First Line: | Go forward, Christian soldier, Beneath His banner true |
Title: | Go Forward, Christian Soldier |
Author: | Lawrence Tuttiett (1861) |
Meter: | 7.6.7.6 D |
Language: | English |
Copyright: | Public Domain |
Go forward, Christian soldier. L. Tuttiett. [Confirmation.] First published in his Counsels of a Godfather, 1851, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines, and based upon Exod. xiv. 15. In 1867 it was included in the Appendix to Morrell & How's Psalms & Hymns, and from that date it has gradually increased in popularity until it has become in Great Britain and in America the most widely used of the author's hymns. Original text in the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge Church Hymns, 1871.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)