October 27, 2005

Have faith in God –
And so we say;
Have faith in God –
Along life’s way;
Have faith in God –
For every day.
Have faith, dear friend, in God.

Rise Up! Oh Men of God!

William Pierson Merrill, 1867-1954

    Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the gospel of Christ. Then, whether I come and see you or only hear about you in my absence, I will know that you stand firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the gospel without being frightened in any way by those who oppose you. This is a sign to them that they will be destroyed, but that you will be saved—and that by God. Philippians 1:27, 28.

    The author of this call-to-action text, William Pierson Merrill, was a Presbyterian minister. He served churches in Philadelphia and Chicago, and he pastored the Brick Presbyterian Church in New York until his retirement in 1938.
    Rise Up! Oh Men of God! was first published in the Presbyterian newspaper The Conti­nent in 1911. Merrill wrote:

    Nolan R. Best, then editor of The Continent, happened to say to me that there was urgent need of a brotherhood hymn. The suggestion lingered in my mind, and just about that time I came upon an article by Gerald Stanley Lee, entitled “The Church of the Strong Men.” I was on one of the Lake Michigan steamers going back to Chicago for a Sunday at my own church, when suddenly this hymn came up, almost without conscious thought or effort.

Rise up, O men of God!
Have done with lesser things.
Give heart and mind and soul and strength
To serve the King of kings.

Rise up, O men of God!
The kingdom tarries long.
Bring in the day of brotherhood
And end the night of wrong.

Rise up, O men of God!
The church for you doth wait,
Her strength unequal to her task;
Rise up and make her great!

Lift high the cross of Christ!
Tread where His feet have trod.
As brothers of the Son of Man,
Rise up, O men of God!

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