October 17, 2005

Have faith in God –
As your Bible you read;
Have faith in God –
And so make it your creed;
Have faith in God –
For the truth that you need.
Have faith, dear friend, in God.

My Soul, Be on Thy Guard

George Heath, 1750-1822

    Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last; but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like a man running aimlessly; I do not fight like a man beating the air. No, I beat my body and make it my slave so that after I have preached to others, I myself will not be disqualified for the prize. 1 Corinthians 9:25-27.

    George Heath was an English independent minister, who in 1770 became pastor of a Presbyterian Church at Honiton, Devonshire.
    According to Hatfield, Duffield, and other authorities, Heath "proved unworthy of his office as a Presbyterian pastor and lost his position by bad conduct." He later, it seems, became a Unitarian minister. "It is a striking commentary on his hymn," says Duffield, "that its author should have failed in the very mode against which his stirring trumpet blast ought effectually to have warned him. But let us be charitable and hope that this was one of the fruits of true repentance, for the hymn was published in 1781."

My soul, be on thy guard;
Ten thousand foes arise;
The hosts of sin are pressing hard
To draw thee from the skies.

O watch, and fight, and pray;
The battle ne’er give o’er;
Renew it boldly every day,
And help divine implore.

Never think the victory won,
Nor lay thine armor down;
The work of faith will not be done,
Till thou obtain the crown.

Fight on, my soul, till death
Shall bring thee to thy God;
He’ll take thee, at thy parting breath,
To His divine abode.

Have Faith in God by H.M.S. Richards, Used by Permission