Scripture Verse

This night thy soul shall be required of thee. Luke 12:20

Introduction

portrait
Peter P. Bilhorn (1865–1936)

Words & Mu­sic: Pe­ter P. Bil­horn, 1892 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Anecdote

This hymn was sug­gest­ed by an in­ci­dent which oc­curred dur­ing a tent meet­ing con­duct­ed by the au­thor.

One ev­en­ing the front seat was oc­cu­pied by a par­ty of young la­dies and gen­tle­men. One of the young men be­came an­xious about his soul and was per­son­al­ly in­vit­ed by the au­thor to ac­cept Christ.

When about to rise, one of the young la­dies gave him a sig­ni­fi­cant touch with her foot. This caused him to set­tle back, laugh­ing­ly shake his head and say, not to­night.

On their way home that night they de­ri­sive­ly re-en­act­ed the so­lemn scenes of the meet­ing. One played the preach­er, one the sing­er and the oth­ers would rise up for pray­er, weep, and then laugh­ing­ly say, not to­night.

A stump caused the car­ri­age to up­set. The hors­es be­came fright­ened and ran away. The young man who be­came anx­ious about his soul but said, not to­night was killed.

Peter Bil­horn

Lyrics

Not to­night, so ma­ny say,
And turn from light and life away,
Alas! for some ’twill be too late;
Another night may seal their fate.

Refrain

Come to­night, O come to­night,
Jesus lov­ing­ly doth wait;
Come to­night, O come to­night,
Some oth­er night may be too late.

Not to­night, a man re­plied,
And turned with care­less laugh aside,
But death called loud that ve­ry night;
His soul in ter­ror took its flight.

Refrain

Not to­night! O trem­bling heart,
Why long­er bid thy Lord de­part?
Why will you choose that bit­ter lot
To hear Him say, I know you not!

Refrain

Not to­night, O sad re­ply,
When Christ to save you wait­eth nigh,
The day of grace may soon be past,
Your cry will be lost, lost at last!

Refrain

Not to­night, count well the cost,
Should you for­ev­er­more be lost?
If Heav’n and bliss you ne­ver see,
Where will you spend eter­ni­ty?

Refrain