One of our songs today was ‘Fight The Good Fight’.
Songs with such strong resolve seem to have fallen out of favour, even among churches that sing hymns. Lyrics expressing fighting and military motifs have fallen from regular use, so it was good to encounter these lyrics again.
1.
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.
2.
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.
3.
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.
4.
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.
When we rehearsed this morning I was surprised to find that our hymnbook used a different tune to the one I knew. Rejoice! sings it to the tune ‘Duke Street’. I had grown up singing it to the tune ‘Pentecost’. There is an amusing story about how ‘Pentecost’ come to be popularly associated with these words, quoted from its composer, William Boyd here on the cyberhymnal website.
Both tunes present the lyrics with contrasting emphases. ‘Duke Street’ allows the lyrics to be sung in an assertive manner expressing firm resolve. ‘Pentecost’ provides for a more reflective expression, more in the manner of encouragement and testimony.
This youtube is ‘Duke Street’, the tune we used today.
This one is ‘Pentecost’.
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