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Lead on, O King Eternal

Lead on, O King Eternal, The day of march has come
Author: Ernest W. Shurtleff (1887)
Tune: LANCASHIRE
Published in 373 hymnals

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Lead On, O
King Eternal

Piano/Organ Choral

The Festival Hymn Christ, the Lord,

Collection, Volume Our Sure
2 Foundation

Representative Text
1 Lead on, O King eternal, 3 Lead on, O King eternal;
the day of march has come; we follow, not with fears,
henceforth in fields of conquest for gladness breaks like morning
your tents will be our home. where'er your face appears.
Through days of preparation Your cross is lifted o'er us,
your grace has made us strong; we journey in its light;
and now, O King eternal, the crown awaits the conquest;
we lift our battle song. lead on, O God of might.

2 Lead on, O King eternal, Psalter Hymnal, (Gray)

till sin's fierce war shall cease,
and holiness shall whisper
the sweet amen of peace.
For not with swords' loud clashing
or roll of stirring drums
with deeds of love and mercy
the heavenly kingdom comes.

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Author: Ernest W. Shurtleff

Before studying at Andover, Ernest W. Shurtleff (Boston, MA, 1862; d. Paris, France, 1917) attended Harvard
University. He served Congregational churches in Ventura, California; Old Plymouth, Massachusetts; and Minneapolis,
Minnesota, before moving to Europe. In 1905 he established the American Church in Frankfurt, and in 1906 he moved Contents
to Paris, where he was involved in student ministry at the Academy Vitti. During World War I he and his wife were

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active in refugee relief work in Paris. Shurtleff wrote a number of books, including Poems (1883), Easter Gleams
(1885), Song of Hope (1886), and Song on the Waters (1913). Bert Polman… Go to person page >

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Text Information
Text Information Lectionary Weeks Scripture References Languages

First Line: Lead on, O King Eternal, The day of march has come Related Texts
Title: Lead on, O King Eternal Onward, Christian Soldiers
Author: Ernest W. Shurtleff (1887)
Stand Up, Stand Up for Jesus
Meter: 7.6.7.6 D
Soldiers of Christ, arise
Copyright: Public Domain
Holy Fortitude
Faith of our fathers, living still

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Notes
Scripture References:
st. 1 = Eph. 6:10
st. 2 = Luke 4:18-19, Isa.61:1-2
st. 3 = 2 Tim. 4:7-8

With the encouragement of his fellow graduating classmates, Ernest W. Shurtleff (Boston, MA, 1862; d. Paris, France, 1917) wrote this text in
1887 for Andover Theological Seminary's commencement ceremonies. Winning immediate acclaim, the text was published in Shurtleff's Hymns
of the Faith that same year. Since that publication it has appeared in many American hymnals.

Graduation is one milestone on… Read More

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Tune
LANCASHIRE
Frequency of use
Other
Henry T. Smart (PHH 233) composed the tune in 1835 for use at a
missions festival at Blackburn, Lancashire, England. For that festival,
which celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation
in England, the tune was set to Reginald Heber's (PHH 249) “From
Greenland's Icy Mountains.”…

Go to tune page >

LANCASHIRE

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In his book, The Gospel in Hymns, Albert Bailey describes very eloquently the function of this hymn when he writes, “It is
Contents
the eager cry of the knight who has been kneeling through the hours of darkness in vigil at the altar where his sword and

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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. Quite frankly, we most likely
don’t know how to make sense of this. 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. But we shouldn’t stay away from such language because we don’t fully
understand it. Part of our task is to remember that language is just that - only words. We talk in imagery. When we say we
are putting on the armor of God, we know that we are clothing ourselves with love, righteousness, and good deeds. When
we invoke the God of conquest, we know we are asking God to use us in a fight against spiritual evils, not physical. Perhaps
the second verse of this hymn says it best: “For not with sword’s loud clashing / or roll of stirring drums / with deeds of
love and mercy / the heavenly kingdom comes.”

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Timeline
Appearance of this hymn in hymnals
100
Percent of hymnals

50

0
1750 1775 1800 1825 1850 1875 1900 1925 1950 1975 2000
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Arrangements
Store

Piano/Organ
The Festival Hymn Collection, Volume 2
Christ, the Lord, Our Sure Foundation
The Day of Resurrection - Lead On, O King Eternal - (Choral Score)

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Choral
LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL
LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL
LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL

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Instrumental
Lead On, O King Eternal
Majestic Praise (Brass Solos for Worship for Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, or Baritone T.C.)
Majestic Praise (Brass Solos for Worship for Trumpet, Horn, Trombone, or Baritone T.C.)

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Handbells
LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL
Contents
LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL

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Seasons of Praise (Artistic Hymn-Based Medleys for Solo Ringing and Piano)

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PowerPoint
LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL (Lift Up Your Hearts 328)
LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL (Trinity Hymnal 1990 - 580)
LEAD ON, O KING ETERNAL (Blue Psalter 484)

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Trinity Psalter Hymnal (2018), p.817

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Instances
Instances (1 - 45 of 45) Add/Remove Fields

A Teaching Hymnal #138

African American Heritage Hymnal #477

African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #177

Ambassador Hymnal #451

Baptist Hymnal 1991 #621

Baptist Hymnal 2008 #659

Celebrating Grace Hymnal #63

Chalice Hymnal #632

Church Hymnal, Mennonite #598

Evangelical Lutheran Worship #805

Glory to God #269

Hymns for a Pilgrim People #451

Hymns of Faith #459

Hymns of the Christian Life #451

Hymns of the Saints #374

Lift Up Your Hearts #328

Moravian Book of Worship #753

One Lord, One Faith, One Baptism #404

Contents
Praise! Our Songs and Hymns #460

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Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #555

Rejoice Hymns #140

Rejoice in the Lord #423

Renew! Songs and Hymns for Blended Worship #298

Sing Joyfully #513

The Big-Note Hymn Book #30

The Book of Praise #742

The Book of Praise #743

The Celebration Hymnal #724

The Christian Life Hymnal #451

The Covenant Hymnal #429

The Cyber Hymnal #3617

The Hymnal 1982 #555

The Hymnal for Worship and Celebration #483

The New Century Hymnal #573

The New National Baptist Hymnal (21st Century Edition) #415

The Presbyterian Hymnal #447

The Presbyterian Hymnal #448

The United Methodist Hymnal #580

The Worshiping Church #747

Total Praise #481

Trinity Hymnal (Rev. ed.) #580

Trinity Psalter Hymnal #544

Welsh and English Hymns and Anthems #83b

Worship and Rejoice #508

Worship and Service Hymnal #414

Include 328 pre-1979 instances

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