Scripture Verse

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

Introduction

portrait
Elisha Hoffman (1839–1929)

Words: Eli­sha A. Hoff­man, 1899. Ap­peared in The Voice of Me­lo­dy, ed­it­ed by Ed­mund S. Lo­renz (Day­ton, Ohio: Lo­renz, 1900), num­ber 51.

Music: Ar­thur W. Nel­son (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

Lyrics

Oh, se­ttle the quest­ion to­night, my bro­ther!
Take cour­age and do the right;
Come out of the dark­ness and gloom of thy sin,
And walk in God’s beau­ti­ful light.

Refrain

O set­tle the quest­ion to­night,
O set­tle the quest­ion to­night,
Wait not till tomor­row
To end thy soul sor­row,
But settle the quest­ion to­night.

Tonight the good Spir­it is here, my bro­ther!
Tonight Je­sus pleads with thee;
Tonight call on God while His grace is so near,
Tonight go in peace and be free.

Refrain

Tonight is the time to re­pent, my bro­ther!
Tonight God is here in pow­er;
Tonight is the time when the dear Lord will save,
Yes, this is sal­va­tion’s glad hour.

Refrain

Go not from this tem­ple tonight, my bro­ther!
Rejecting the grace of God;
Stand up and con­fess all the sins of thy life,
And trust in that soul cleans­ing blood.

Refrain