21530. ONCE TO EVERY MAN AND NATION
Lyrics & Stanzas
4 portions
Verse 1
Once to ev'ry man and nation Comes the moment to decide, In the strife of truth and falsehood, For the good or evil side; Some great cause, some great decision, Off'ring each the bloom or blight, And the choice goes by forever 'Twixt that darkness and that light.
Verse 2
Then to side with truth is noble, When we share her wretched crust, Ere her cause bring fame and profit, And 'tis prosp'rous to be just; Then it is the brave man chooses While the coward stands aside, Till the multitude make virtue Of the faith they had denied.
Verse 3
By the light of burning martyrs, Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track, Toiling up new calv'ries ever With the cross that turns not back; New occasions teach new duties, Ancient values test our youth; They must upward still and onward, Who would keep abreast of truth.
Verse 4
Tho the cause of evil prosper, Yet the truth alone is strong; Tho her portion be the scaffold, And upon the throne be wrong: Yet that scaffold sways the future, And, behind the dim unknown, Standeth God within the shadow, Keeping watch above His own.
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