Scripture Verse

Whosoever shall confess Me before men, him will I confess also before My Father. Matthew 10:32

Introduction

portrait
Thomas Kelly (1769–1855)

Words: Tho­mas Kel­ly, Hymns on Va­ri­ous Pas­sag­es of Scrip­ture, fourth edi­tion (Dub­lin, Ire­land: Tho­mas John­son, 1812), pag­es 66–67, alt.

Music: Kan­sas Ci­ty Will­iam J. Kirk­pat­rick, 1893 (🔊 pdf nwc).

portrait
William J. Kirkpatrick (1838–1921)

Lyrics

They who con­fess the Sav­ior here,
Must count up­on the world­ling’s sneer;
Must reck­on on his mal­ice, too,
Nor fear to stand among the few.

How ma­ny, thro’ the fear of shame,
Refuse to own the Sav­ior’s name!
Lest fools the ques­tion should re­new,
And cry, Are ye de­ceiv­èd, too?

The fear of man thus brings a snare,
For few his frown and scorn can bear,
But they should think what Je­sus says,
Them who con­fess Me I’ll con­fess.

Ah Lord! with truth we all may tell,
That we have loved the world too well;
O make us val­iant in Thy cause!
And care­less of the world’s ap­plause.

While we des­pise the earth­ly scorn,
Let all our works Thy truth adorn!
And when Thy glo­ri­ous day we see,
O let us be con­fessed of Thee!