CHRISTIAN LIFE >> Christian Warfare
SDAH 609
Am I a soldier of the cross,
a follower of the Lamb,
and shall I fear to own his cause,
or blush to speak his name?
Get the hymn sheet in other keys here
For Worship Leaders
Make each hymn more meaningful with these helpful tools: Short, ready-to-use hymn introductions for church bulletins, multiple ways to introduce a hymn based on your worship theme and in-depth history and insights to enrich your song service.
📖 Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.
Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):
Isaac Watts (1674-1748; see Biographies) published a large number of This sermons between 1721 and 1724, and to many of them he added a special hymn. Sermon number 31, entitled “Holy Fortitude, a Remedy Against Fear,” was based on 1 Corinthians 16:13: “Watch ye, stand fast in the faith, quit you like men, be strong.”
The tune ARLINGTON comes from a melody composed by Thomas Augustine Arne (1710-1778), of London. He was the principal composer of his time, and wrote songs for all the London theaters. He was the composer of the British sea song “Rule, Britannia.” This melody occurs in a minuet in the overture to his opera Artaxerxes, which was produced at the Covent Garden theater in 1762. The melody was arranged as a hymn tune by Ralph Harrison (1748-1810), a Unitarian minister who served at Shrewsbury for two years, 1769-1771, and then in Manchester until his death. He collected several hymn tunes, including some of his own for the use of his Manchester congregation in his compilation Sacred Harmony, 1784. Harrison also taught classics at the Manchester Academy, which he helped found.
📖 Reference: Companion to the Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal by Wayne Hooper and Edward E. White. Review and Herald Publishing Association, 1988.
Text
1
Am I a soldier of the cross,
a follower of the Lamb,
and shall I fear to own his cause,
or blush to speak his name?
2
Must I be carried to the skies
on flowery beds of ease,
while others fought to win the prize,
and sailed through bloody seas?
3
Are there no foes for me to face?
Must I not stem the flood?
Is this vile world a friend to grace,
to help me on to God?
4
Sure I must fight, if I would reign;
increase my courage, Lord
I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain,
supported by thy word
5
Thy saints in all this glorious war
shall conquer though they die;
they see the triumph from afar,
by faith they bring it nigh
6
When that illustrious day shall rise,
and all thy armies shine
in robes of victory through the skies,
the glory shall be thine.
Hymn Info
Biblical Reference
(a) 2 Tim 2:3; Rev 14:4 (b) 1 Cor 9:26 (f) Rev 5:13
Author
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
Year Published
1724
Hymn Tune
ARLINGTON
Metrical Number
C.M.
Composer
Thomas A. Arne (1710-1778)
Year Composed
1762
