Scripture Verse

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour. 1 Peter 5:8

Introduction

Words: George Heath, Hymns and Po­et­ic Es­says Sac­red to the Pub­lic and Pri­vate Wor­ship of the De­ity, and to Re­li­gious and Chris­tian Im­prove­ment 1781.

Music: La­ban Lo­well Ma­son, 1830 (🔊 pdf nwc).

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

portrait
The Forbidden Fruit

Lyrics

My soul, be on thy guard;
Ten thou­sand foes arise;
The hosts of sin are press­ing hard
To draw thee from the skies.

O watch, and fight, and pray;
The bat­tle ne’er give o’er;
Renew it bold­ly ev­ery day,
And help di­vine im­plore.

Ne’er think the vic­to­ry won,
Nor lay thine ar­mor down;
The work of faith will not be done,
Till thou ob­tain the crown.

Fight on, my soul, till death
Shall bring thee to thy God;
He’ll take thee, at thy part­ing breath,
To His di­vine abode.