Scripture Verse

Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest. Joshua 1:9

Introduction

portrait
Joel S. Ives
1847–1924

Words: Jo­el S. Ives, in Hymns of Chris­tian En­dea­vor, ed­it­ed by S. Win­ches­ter Ad­ri­ance (Bos­ton, Mas­sa­chu­setts: Unit­ed So­cie­ty of Chris­tian En­dea­vor, 1888), num­ber 153.

Music: Will­iam H. Pon­ti­us (1857–1937) (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know where to get a good pho­to of Pon­ti­us (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Ho! Ar­my of En­dea­vors,
Your strength the times de­mand;
Redemption waits your con­quests,
Obey your Lord’s com­mands.
Rejoice! for God is with you,
Strike hard the hosts of sin!
March forth with cour­age ev­er,
For yours it is to win!

Refrain

March forth, march forth,
March forth with cour­age ev­er;
March forth, march forth,
March forth, march forth,
For yours it is to win.

Ho! Army of En­dea­vors,
It is your lead­er’s call.
Go forth into the con­flict,
Not one of you shall fall!
Keep all your co­lors fly­ing,
Make ev­ery wea­pon bright,
Look ev­er un­to Je­sus,
And gird you for the fight.

Refrain

Lift high your roy­al ban­ner!
The ban­ner of the cross,
With shouts of glad ho­san­nas;
It can­not suf­fer loss.
O hap­py, hap­py sol­diers,
Triumphant in your king,
March on with shouts of glad­ness,
And songs of vic­to­ry sing!

Refrain