Scripture Verse

Let not thy hands be slack. Zephaniah 3:16

Introduction

Words: S. E. Bur­row, in Fel­low­ship Hymns, ed­it­ed by Cla­rence Au­gus­tus Bar­bour (1867–1937) (New York: Young Men’s Chris­tian As­so­cia­tion Press, 1910), num­ber 306.

Music: St. Ed­mund (Sul­li­van) Ar­thur S. Sul­li­van, 1872 (🔊 pdf nwc).

If you know Bur­row’s full name, or where to get a good pho­to of him (head & shoul­ders, at least 200×300 pix­els),

portrait
Arthur Sullivan (1842–1900)

Lyrics

Let not thy hands be slack,
Live not in vain;
Out on life’s lone­ly track
Men toil in pain.
Play thou a bro­ther’s part,
Strength, love and hope im­part;
Bid thou the faint­ing heart
Look up again.

Let not thy hands be slack,
Haste to the fray!
Dream not of turn­ing back;
Life is not play!
Gird thou thy ar­mor on,
Fight till the bat­tle’s won,
Then shall thy Lord’s Well done,
More than re­pay!

Let not thy hands be slack,
Grip thou thy sword!
Why should’st thou cour­age lack?
Think of the Lord.
Did He not fight for thee?
Stronger than all is He,
And He thy strength will be,
Rest on His Word.

Let not thy hands be slack,
Fear not! be strong!
Cease not to make at­tack
On ev­ery wrong!
Press on for truth and right,
Hold high the Gos­pel light,
Expel the dirge of night
With Hea­ven’s song!

Let not thy hands be slack,
The days fly fast.
Lost mo­ments come not back
From the dark past.
Then be not slack of hand!
Help thou the weak to stand!
To God and fa­ther­land
Give all thou hast!