The Seventh-Day Adventist Hymn and Tune Book ‎#848

848. Pilgrims, on! the day is dawning

1 Pilgrims, on! the day is dawning;
Strike your tents, and homeward haste:
Sleep not while the blush of morning
Calls you on the desert waste,
Though the way is dark and dreary,
Life's sharp anguish must be borne;
Courage, then, ye faint and weary,
Linger not to weep and morn.

2 Pilgrims, on! the storm is beating,
Beating wildly on your way:
Tarry not, the time is fleeting;
Shall the storm your footsteps stay?
Hasten on, through joy and sorrow,
Or whatever may betide,
Wait not for the calm to-morrow,
Faithful at your work abide.

3 Pilgrims, on! what though in dangers,
Life's eventful course pursue;
Labor on, ye friendless strangers,
Grace will guide you safely through.
What if trials must befall you!
What if fierce temptations rise!
Shall earth's bitter strife appall you
While contending for the prize?

4 Pilgrims, on! there's rest in heaven,
Rest from every anxious care,
Rest in Jesus' smiles, forgiven,
Peaceful and eternal there.
O, 'twere sweet to toil in sadness,
O, 'twere well the cross to bear,
If, at last in joy and gladness,
We may rest forever there!

Text Information

• First Line: Pilgrims, on! the day is dawning
• Author: Anon.
• Publication Date: 1886
• Topic: Waiting for Christ: Closing Work
• Notes: Public Domain.

Tune Information

• Name: ONWARD
• Composer: Unknown
• Meter: 8s & 7s, D
• Key: D Major
• Notes: Now Public Domain. Alternate tunes: #844 or 466.