Friday is for Heart Songs
Coming back from the Bethlehem Conference for Pastors, I am thinking anew about the greatness of hearing 2500 men singing of the greatness of our God. It truly is an awesome experience to hear the Savior praised by the resounding, passionate, thunder of men giving their all in worship.
The theme of the conference, Biblical Manhood, seemed to put a damper on wives attending this year’s conference which was unfortunate because our mighty wives are raising boys, training girls, mentoring young women and helping husbands—all tasks that would be enhanced by a better understanding of what it means to be male and what mature masculinity looks like.
Today in my devotions I was looking for one hymn and found another. The classic LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL. Written by Ernest W. Shurtleff with music composed by Henry Smart, both tune and lyrics are distinctively male. The perfect text for this hymn, written originally for the graduation ceremony of seminarians is 1 Corinthians 16:13: “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong.” (ESV) This would be a great one for the Bethlehem Conference.
Lead On, O King Eternal
Lead on, O King eternal,
The day of march has come;
Henceforth in fields of conquest
Thy tents shall be our home:
Thro’ days of preparation
Thy grace has made us strong,
And now, O King Eternal,
We lift our battle song.
Lead on, O King Eternal,
Till sin’s fierce war shall cease,
And holiness shall whisper
The sweet amen of peace;
For not with swords’ loud clashing,
Or roll of stirring drums;
With deeds of love and mercy
The heav’nly kingdom comes.
Lead on, O King eternal,
We follow not with fears;
For gladness breaks like morning
Where’er Thy face appears;
Thy cross is lifted o’er us;
We journey in its light:
The crown awaits the conquest;
Lead on, O God of might.[1]
“Lead on, O King Eternal, Lead us on. On to Your victory and on to Your greater glory. O satisfy us with Yourself O God. Rule our hearts, O captain of our souls and hold us captive to Your righteous ways. For the majesty of Christ and from underneath His blood, we ask this. Amen.”
[1]Logos Hymnal. 1st edition. Oak Harbor, WA : Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995
ChosenRebel's Blog 
Love that song but every time I hear it now I think about when my wife was young she thought the word were lead on oh kinky turtle. 🙂
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Now that is funny! Sad, but funny.
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