Christ My Song - 587
Sounds the trumpet from afar! - The War Song of the Church
(Horatius Bonar/Johannes Thomas Rüegg)
The War Song of the Church.
1. Sounds the trumpet from afar!
Soldiers of the holy war,
rise, for you your Captain waits;
rise, the foe is at the gates! PDF - Midi
2. Arm! the conflict has begun;
Fight! the battle must be won;
lift the banner to the sky,
wave its blazing folds on high!
3. Banner of the blessed tree,
round its glory gather ye!
Warriors of the crown and cross,
what is earthly gain or loss?
4. Life with death, and death with life,
closes now in deadly strife;
help us with thy shield and sword,
King and Captain, mighty Lord!
5. King of glory thou alone!
King of kings, thy name we own!
With thy banner overhead,
not ten thousand foes we dread.
6. Spare not toil, nor blood, nor pain;
not a stroke descends in vain;
wounded, still no foot we yield
on the ancient battle-field.
7. More than conquerors even now,
with the war-sweat on our brow,
onward o'er the well-marked road,
march we as the host of God.
8. Royal is the sword we wield,
royal is our battle-field,
royal is our victory,
royal shall our triumph be.
Horatius Bonar, Hymns of Faith and Hope III, 1878, 29-30.
Today it may be well to clarify that the battle of which this hymn sings is not an ordinary human or earthly battle, but a spiritual fight under the Prince of peace Jesus Christ, the sword being the Word of God ... (Ephesians 6,10-20).