For Victorious Faith

Representative Text

1 O for a faith that will not shrink,
Though pressed by every foe,
That will not tremble on the brink
Of any earthly woe.

2 That will not murmur nor complain
Beneath the chastening rod,
But, in the hour of grief or pain,
Will lean upon its God;

3 A faith that shines more bright and clear
When tempests rage without:
That when in danger knows no fear,
In darkness feels no doubt;

4 That bears, unmoved, the world’s dread frown,
Nor heeds the scornful smile;
That seas of trouble cannot drown,
Nor Satan’s arts beguile;

5 A faith that keeps the narrow way
Till life’s last hour is fled,
And with a pure and heavenly ray
Illumes up a dying bed:

6 Lord, give us such a faith as this;
And then, what e’er may come,
I’ll taste, e’en now, the hallowed bliss
Of an eternal home.

Source: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #428

Author: William Hiley Bathurst

Bathurst, William Hiley , M.A., son of the Rt. Hon. Charles Bragge (afterwards Bathurst) some time M.P. for Bristol, born at Clevedale, near Bristol, Aug. 28, 1796, and educated at Winchester, and Christ Church, Oxford, graduating B.A. in 1818. From 1820 to 1852 he held the Rectory of Barwick-in-Elmet, near Leeds. Resigning the Rectory in the latter year, through his inability to reconcile his doctrinal views with the Book of Common Prayer, he retired into private life, and died at Lydney Park, Gloucestershire, Nov. 25, 1877. His works include, The Georgics of Virgil: Translated by W. H. B., 1849; Metrical Musings; or, Thoughts on Sacred Subjects in Verse, 1849; and Psalms and Hymns for Public and Private Use, 1831 (2nd ed. 1842). This last… Go to person page >

Notes

O for a faith that will not shrink. W. H. Bathurst. [Faith.] First published in his Psalms and Hymns, &c, 1831, Hy. 86, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled, "The Power of Faith." As found in Hymns Ancient & Modern, the Hymnal Companion, and others, stanza iv. is omitted. Its omission is a great gain to the hymn, as it mars its simplicity and tenderness. It reads:—

"That bears unmov'd the world's dread frown,
Nor heeds its scornful smile;
That sin's wild ocean cannot drown,
Nor its soft arts beguile."

The use of this hymn is great, and more especially in America, where it is given in most of the leading collections.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

AZMON

Lowell Mason (PHH 96) adapted AZMON from a melody composed by Carl G. Gläser in 1828. Mason published a duple-meter version in his Modern Psalmist (1839) but changed it to triple meter in his later publications. Mason used (often obscure) biblical names for his tune titles; Azmon, a city south of C…

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ARLINGTON (Arne)


EVAN (Havergal)

This tune is likely the work of the composer named here, but has also been attributed to others as shown in the instances list.

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Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #4790
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Instances

Instances (1 - 18 of 18)

Hymns of the Christian Life #151

The Baptist Hymnal #379

Church Gospel Songs and Hymns #432

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The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal #486

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CPWI Hymnal #452

Great Songs of the Church (Revised) #505

Praise for the Lord (Expanded Edition) #462

Church Hymnal, Mennonite #461

Hymns of the Saints #159

Text

The New National Baptist Hymnal (21st Century Edition) #280

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Worship and Service Hymnal #329

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African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #428

Text

Seventh-day Adventist Hymnal #533

The Sacred Harp #66

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The Irish Presbyterian Hymbook #520

TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #4790

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Christian Worship (1993) #405

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Evangelical Lutheran Hymnary #364

Include 663 pre-1979 instances
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