Scripture Verse

As long as it is day, we must do the work of Him who sent Me. Night is coming, when no one can work. John 9:4

Introduction

portrait
Horatius Bonar (1808–1889)

Words: Ho­ra­ti­us Bo­nar, Songs for the Wil­der­ness 1843.

Music: Pen­te­cost (Boyd) Will­iam Boyd, 1864. First pub­lished in Thir­ty-Two Hymn Tunes Com­posed by Mem­bers of the Uni­ver­si­ty of Ox­ford, 1868 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Alternate Tunes:

If you know where to get a good pic­ture of Boyd (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

Lyrics

Go, labor on: spend, and be spent,
Thy joy to do the Fa­ther’s will:
It is the way the Mas­ter went;
Should not the servant tread it still?

Go, labor on! ’tis not for naught
Thine earthly loss is heavenly gain;
Men heed thee, love thee, praise thee not;
The Mas­ter praises: what are men?

Go, labor on! enough, while here,
If He shall praise thee, if He deign
The willing heart to mark and cheer:
No toil for Him shall be in vain.

Go, labor on! Your hands are weak,
Your knees are faint, your soul cast down;
Yet falter not; the prize you seek
Is near—a kingdom and a crown.

Go, labor on while it is day:
The world’s dark night is hastening on;
Speed, speed thy work, cast sloth away;
It is not thus that souls are won.

Men die in darkness at thy side,
Without a hope to cheer the tomb;
Take up the torch and wave it wide,
The torch that lights time’s thickest gloom.

Toil on, faint not, keep watch and pray,
Be wise the erring soul to win;
Go forth into the world’s highway,
Compel the wanderer to come in.

Toil on, and in thy toil rejoice!
For toil comes rest, for exile home;
Soon shalt thou hear the Bridegroom’s voice,
The midnight peal, Behold, I come!