Scripture Verse

His banner over me was love. Song of Solomon 2:4

Introduction

portrait
William W. Gilchrist (1846–1916)

Words: Ger­ald Mas­sey, 1863.

Music: Wa­ver­tree Will­iam Shore, 1840. Har­mo­ny by Will­iam W. Gil­christ, 1895 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
Gerald Massey (1828–1907)

Lyrics

Surrounded by un­num­bered foes,
Against my soul the bat­tle goes;
Yet though I wea­ry, sore dis­tressed,
I know that I shall reach my rest:
I lift my tear­ful eyes above—
His ban­ner over me is love.

Its sword my spi­rit will not yield,
Though flesh may faint up­on the field;
He waves be­fore my fad­ing sight
The branch of palm, the crown of light:
I lift my bright­en­ing eyes above—
His ban­ner over me is love.

My cloud of bat­tle-dust may dim,
His veil of splen­dor cur­tain Him;
And in the mid­night of my fear
I may not feel Him stand­ing near:
But, as I lift mine eyes above,
His ban­ner over me is love.