October 21, 2005

Have faith in God –
Remember His Sabbath rest;
Have faith in God –
In all things His love confessed;
Have faith in God –
For the better and the best.
Have faith, dear friend, in God.

Fight the Good Fight with all Thy Might

John Samuel Bewley Monsell, 1811-1875

    But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called when you made your good confession in the presence of many witnesses. 1 Timothy 6:11, 12.

    When John Monsell wrote this hymn text, he provided ten strong imperatives for a triumphant Christian life:
                1 - Fight the good fight
                2 - Lay hold of life
                3 - Run the straight race
                4 - Lift up thine eyes
                5 - Seek His face
                6 - Cast care aside
                7 - Lean on thy Guide
                8 - Trust and prove
                9 - Faint not nor fear
                10 - Only believe
    Each of these is worthy of further pondering.
    John Monsell was an Anglican clergyman who published a hymnal in 1863 titled Love and Praise for the Church Year. In that song book this hymn first appeared under the title "The Fight for Faith". This respected man of the pulpit was also known as a strong advocate of vigorous congregational singing, constantly persuading his people that congregational singing should be fervent and joyous. "We are too distant and reserved in our praises," he would say. "We sing, but not as we should sing to Him Who is the chief among ten thousand, the altogether lovely!" Perhaps there is a stronger relationship between our times of joyous praise and our ability to "fight the good fight" than we generally realize.
    William Boyd wrote the tune for Fight the Good Fight of Faith, but tells the following story:

    Baring-Gould asked me to compose a tune to Come Holy Ghost, Our Souls Inspire, to be sung at a large meeting of Yorkshire colliers. I walked, talked, slept and ate with the words, and at last evolved the tune which I naturally named Pentecost. One day, as I was walking along Regent Street I felt a slap on my back, and turning around saw my dear old friend, Arthur Sullivan. “My dear Billy,” he said, “I’ve seen a tune of yours which I must have.” He was then editing Church Hymns. “All right,” I said, “Send me a cheque and I agree.” No copy of the book, much less a proof was sent to me, and when I saw the tune I was horrified to find that Sullivan had assigned it to Fight the Good Fight! We had a regular fisticuffs about it, but judging from the favour with which the tune has been received, I feel that Sullivan was right in so mating words and music.

Fight the good fight with all thy might;
Christ is thy Strength, and Christ thy Right;
Lay hold on life, and it shall be
Thy joy and crown eternally.

Run the straight race through God’s good grace,
Lift up thine eyes, and seek His face;
Life with its way before us lies,
Christ is the Path, and Christ the Prize.

Cast care aside, upon thy Guide,
Lean, and His mercy will provide;
Lean, and the trusting soul shall prove
Christ is its Life, and Christ its Love.

Faint not nor fear, His arms are near,
He changeth not, and thou art dear.
Only believe, and thou shalt see
That Christ is all in all to thee.

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