Seeing we…are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, and let us run with patience the race that is set before us.
Hebrews 12:1
Words: Benjamin Beddome (1717–1795). Published posthumously in Hymns Adapted to Public Worship (London: Burton & Briggs, 1818), number 647. Joining the Church.
Music: St. Agnes John B. Dykes, in Hymnal for Use in the English Church, by John Grey, 1866 (🔊 pdf nwc).
Witness ye men and angels now,
Before the Lord we speak;
To Him we make our solemn vow,
A vow we dare not break—
That long as life itself shall last,
Ourselves to Christ we yield;
Nor from His cause will we depart,
Or ever quit the field.
We trust not in our native strength,
But on His grace rely,
That with returning wants, the Lord
Will all our need supply.
O guide our doubtful feet aright,
And keep us in Thy ways,
And while we turn our vows to prayers,
Turn Thou our prayers to praise.