Scripture Verse

He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for My sake shall find it. Matthew 10:39

Introduction

Words: Fred­er­ick L. Hos­mer, 1891, alt. This hymn was wri­tten for the de­di­ca­tion of Un­ity Church in De­cor­ah, Io­wa, and first pub­lished in The Thoughts of God, se­cond ser­ies, 1894.

Music: John Brown’s Bo­dy pos­si­bly by John Will­iam Steffe (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Frederick Hosmer (1840–1929)

Lyrics

From age to age they ga­ther,
All the brave of heart and strong;
In the strife of truth with er­ror,
Of the right against the wrong;
I can see their gleam­ing ban­ner,
I can hear their tri­umph song;
The truth is march­ing on.
Glory, glo­ry, hal­le­lu­jah!
Glory, glo­ry, hal­le­lu­jah!
Glory, glo­ry, hal­le­lu­jah!
The truth is march­ing on.

Now in this sign we con­quer,
’Tis the sym­bol of our faith,
Made ho­ly by the might of love
Triumphant ov­er death;
He who finds his life los­eth it,
Forevermore it sa­ith,
The right is march­ing on!
Glory, glo­ry, hal­le­lu­jah!
Glory, glo­ry, hal­le­lu­jah!
Glory, glo­ry, hal­le­lu­jah!
The right is march­ing on!

The earth is circ­ling on­ward
Out of sha­dow into light;
The stars keep watch above our way,
However dark the night;
For every mar­tyr’s stripe there glows
A bar of morn­ing bright;
And love is march­ing on!
Glory, glo­ry, hal­le­lu­jah!
Glory, glo­ry, hal­le­lu­jah!
Glory, glo­ry, hal­le­lu­jah!
And love is march­ing on!

Lead on, O cross of martyr faith,
With thee is vic­to­ry;
Shine forth, O stars and red­den­ing dawn,
The full day yet shall be;
On earth His king­dom cometh,
And with joy our eyes shall see,
Our God is march­ing on.
Glory, glo­ry, hal­le­lu­jah!
Glory, glo­ry, hal­le­lu­jah!
Glory, glo­ry, hal­le­lu­jah!
Our God is march­ing on.