I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith.
2 Timothy 4:7
Words: Charles Wesley, Short Hymns (Bristol, England: E. Farley, 1762), volume 2, numbers 665 & 667, pages 338–39.
Music: Victory (Whitehead) H. A. Whitehead, in The Methodist Hymnal (New York: Methodist Book Concern, 1905), number 391 (🔊 pdf nwc).
If you know Whitehead’s full name, or where to get a good picture of him (head & shoulders, at least 200×300 pixels),
I the good fight have fought,
O when shall I declare!
The victory by my Savior got,
I long with Paul to share.
O may I triumph so,
When all my warfare’s past;
And dying find my latest foe
Beneath my feet at last!
This blessèd word be mine,
Just as the port is gained,
Kept by the power of grace divine,
I have the faith maintained!
Th’Apostles of my Lord,
To whom it first was given,
They could not speak a greater word,
Nor all the saints in Heaven.