How do we reconcile between the peaceful Christ and the seemingly war-driven God of the Old Testament? How can we claim to desire a world of peace when we talk in such violent language? These are questions Christians around the world wrestle with. Quite frankly, we most likely don’t know how to make sense of this. In his book, The Gospel in Hymns, Albert Bailey describes very eloquently the function of this hymn when he writes, “It is the eager cry of the knight who has been kneeling through the hours of darkness in vigil at the altar where his sword and armor are being impregnated with the power of heaven, and who now with the dawn rises to receive the accolade of his King and goes forth to combat.” We probably don’t think about our faith like this too often. Shurtleff wrote a number of books, including Poems (1883), Easter Gleams (1885), Song of Hope (1886), and Song on the Waters (1913).Ī fine recessional hymn appropriate many other times of worship, including ordination/ commissioning, church education graduations, and occasions that mark the beginning of a church program. During World War I he and his wife were active in refugee relief work in Paris. In 1905 he established the American Church in Frankfurt, and in 1906 he moved to Paris, where he was involved in student ministry at the Academy Vitti. He served Congregational churches in Ventura, California Old Plymouth, Massachusetts and Minneapolis, Minnesota, before moving to Europe. This message is as urgent today as it was a hundred years ago.īefore studying at Andover, Shurtleff attended Harvard University.

Initially laced with war imagery, the text moves on to biblical imagery-'deeds of love and mercy'-and concludes with a note of eschatological hope. Consequently, 'Lead On, O King Eternal' is a battle call to go forward in Christian service. Graduation is one milestone on our life's journey, a road sign that points to the future as much as it marks the end of formal education. Since that publication it has appeared in many American hymnals. Winning immediate acclaim, the text was published in Shurtleff's Hymns of the Faith that same year.

Paris, France, 1917) wrote this text in 1887 for Andover Theological Seminary's commencement ceremonies.

With the encouragement of his fellow graduating classmates, Ernest W.

Mornings in the Light by Timothy King