Hymn of the Week: May 2, 2022
Hymn of the Week: Lead On, O King Eternal!
Glory to God: 269
Text Ernest Shurtleff, 1888
Music Henry Thomas Smart 1835
Lead on, O King eternal,
the day of march has come;
henceforth in fields of conquest
your tents will be our home.
Through days of preparation
your 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 heavenly kingdom comes.
Lead on, O King eternal;
we follow, not with fears,
for gladness breaks like morning
where'er your face appears.
Your cross is lifted o'er us,
we journey in its light;
the crown awaits the conquest;
lead on, O God of might.
With the encouragement of his fellow graduating classmates, Ernest W. Shurtleff (Boston, MA, 1862; d. Paris, France, 1917) wrote this text in 1887 for Andover Theological Seminary's commencement ceremonies. Winning immediate acclaim, the text was published in Shurtleff's Hymns of the Faith that same year. Since that publication, it has appeared in many American hymnals.
Graduation is one milestone on our life's journey, a road sign that points to the future as much as it marks the end of formal education. Consequently, "Lead On, O King Eternal" is a battle call to go forward in Christian service. Initially laced with war imagery, the text moves on to biblical imagery-"deeds of love and mercy"-and concludes with a note of eschatological hope. This message is as urgent today as it was a hundred years ago.
Before studying at Andover, Shurtleff attended Harvard University. He served Congregational churches in Ventura, California; Old Plymouth, Massachusetts; and Minneapolis, Minnesota, before moving to Europe. In 1905 he established the American Church in Frankfurt, and in 1906 he moved to Paris, where he was involved in student ministry at the Academy Vitti. During World War I, he and his wife were active in refugee relief work in Paris. Shurtleff wrote a number of books, including Poems (1883), Easter Gleams (1885), Song of Hope (1886), and Song on the Waters (1913).
Liturgical Use: A fine recessional hymn; appropriate for many other times of worship, including ordination/ commissioning, church education graduations, and occasions that mark the beginning of a church program.
In his book, The Gospel in Hymns, Albert Bailey describes very eloquently the function of this hymn when he writes, “It is the eager cry of the knight who has been kneeling through the hours of darkness in vigil at the altar where his sword and armor are being impregnated with the power of heaven, and who now with the dawn rises to receive the accolade of his King and goes forth to combat.” We probably don’t think about our faith like this too often. Quite frankly, we most likely don’t know how to make sense of this. How do we reconcile between the peaceful Christ and the seemingly war-driven God of the Old Testament? How can we claim to desire a world of peace when we talk in such violent language? These are questions Christians around the world wrestle with. But we shouldn’t stay away from such language because we don’t fully understand it. Part of our task is to remember that language is just that - only words. We talk in imagery. When we say we are putting on the armor of God, we know that we are clothing ourselves with love, righteousness, and good deeds. When we invoke the God of conquest, we know we are asking God to use us in a fight against spiritual evils, not physical. Perhaps the second verse of this hymn says it best: “For not with sword’s loud clashing / or roll of stirring drums / with deeds of love and mercy / the heavenly kingdom comes.”
Enjoy this stirring rendition by Diane Bish!
