Scripture Verse

They shall…[bring you] before kings and rulers for My name’s sake. Luke 21:12

Introduction

portrait
William P. Merrill (1867–1954)

Words: Will­iam P. Mer­rill, 1914, alt.

Music: Ly­ons at­trib­ut­ed to Jo­hann M. Hay­dn (1737–1806). Ar­ranged by Will­iam Gar­di­ner, Sac­red Me­lo­dies (Lon­don: 1815) (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
Johann Haydn (1737–1806)

Lyrics

We knelt be­fore kings;
We bent be­fore lords;
For theirs were the crowns,
And theirs were the swords:
But times of the bend­ing
And bow­ing are past,
The day of the peo­ple
Is dawn­ing at last!

We cringed be­fore gold;
We dei­fied wealth;
We laid on its al­tar
The life and the health
Of man­hood and wo­man­hood,
And child­hood and youth;
Its lord­ship is doomed
In this day of the truth.

The strength of the state
We’ll lav­ish on more
Than mass­ing of wealth
And mak­ing of war;
We’re learn­ing at last,
Though the les­son comes late,
The mak­ing of man
Is the task of the state.

Great Day of Je­ho­vah!
Prophets and seers
Have sung of thy com­ing
Thousands of years;
Thank God for each sign
That the dark night is past;
The day of the people
Is dawn­ing at last.