Forward! Be Our Watchword Hymn - Henry Alford, 1810-1871

Who Wrote Forward Be Our Watchword Hymn?

Dean Henry Alford stood forth as one of the great ecclesiastical scholars of his generation. Twenty years of scholarly labor he devoted to his edition of the Greek New Testament and accomplished besides a great

Henry Alford

wealth of literary labors, including many original hymns and translations of hymns. Probably his most popular hymn is, "Forward! be our watchword." The great Dean of Canterbury, shortly before his death, was requested by the Rev. ]. G. Wood to write a hymn to be sung at the tenth festival of parochial choirs of the Canterbury Diocesan Union on June 6, 1871. His first hymn so written did not seem to Mr. Wood to be adaptable to processional use, and he suggested that the Dean go into the cathedral and march up and down the aisles, and so compose the processional hymn. Accordingly, the old Dean went into the stately cathedral, and, slowly marching beneath the high-vaulted roof and past the ancient shrines of Canterbury, where many of England's greatest men are sepulchered, he composed, while joining his voice to his steps, the hymn,

Forward! be our watchword,

Steps and voices joined.

It was sung by the Canterbury choirs at their festival, but before that day had come the Dean had passed on to the higher life, pressing

Forward through the darkness,

Forward into light!

Forward Be Our Watchword Hymn Lyrics

1 “Forward!” be our watchword,

Steps and voices joined;

Seek the things before us,

Not a look behind;

Burns the fiery pillar

At our army’s head;

Who shall dream of shrinking,

By our Captain led?

Forward through the desert,

Through the toil and fight;

Heaven’s Kingdom waits us,

Forward into light.

2 Glories upon glories

Hath our God prepared,

By the souls that love Him,

One day to be shared:

Eye hath not beheld them,

Ear hath never heard;

Nor of these hath uttered

Thought or speech or word;

Forward, marching forward

Where the kingdom’s bright,

Till the veil be lifted,

Till our faith be sight!

Forward Be Our Watchword youtube video.

For more lyrics and stories of old hymns visit here.

Comments

Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul Hymn

Story Behind Heaven Came Down Heaven Came Down is a hymn that is of recent origin as it was written in 1961 by John W Peterson. It draws its inspiration from a testimony delivered by an old man named Jim at Montrose Bible Conference Grounds, Pennsylvania. During the testimony talked of his conversion experience. In the testimony he used the phrase, "It seemed like Heaven came down and glory filled my soul." It is this phrase that inspired John W Pearson to write a song using this phrase later that week. John W Peterson wrote over a thousand hymns but it is this song that has touched and continues to touch millions of Christians all over the world. He died on September 20, 2006, at the age of 84 after suffering from prostate cancer. It is so sweet to entrust and surrender our lives to our Savior and Lord Jesus Christ. Heaven does literally come down into our hearts when we do that. John W Peterson Heaven Came Down and Glory Filled My Soul

When We Walk With The Lord Hymn (Trust And Obey) - History of hymn

When We Walk With The Lord History This hymn came about from an incident at one of Dwight L Moody's revival meetings in 1887. A young man who had just given his life to the Lord Jesus Christ was reportedly heard saying, 'I am not quite sure - I am going to trust and obey.' Daniel B Towner- Trust and Obey The music director of the Moody Bible Institute, Professor Towner, was present at the meeting when these words were uttered. Based on these words, Professor Towner with the help of John Sammis, who developed the lyrics, composed the music to this hymn Trust and Obey or When we walk with the Lord. The words seem so simple but they express the feelings of many Christians. It is not easy to trust and obey but that is what we are all called to do if we are to be happy in Jesus. This song has remained popular with many Christian singers to this day and it is my hope that you too will be blessed by this simple but powerful Christian song. A brief Intro of

On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand (My Hope Is Built On Nothing Less) Lyrics and Story

My Hope Is Built On Nothing Else / On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand History My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less or On Christ The Solid Rock I Stand is the best-known hymn of Edward Mote who wrote it in 1834. The original title of this hymn was, "The Immutable Basis for a Sinner's Hope". Edward Mote was the pastor of Rehoboth Baptist Church in Horsham West Sussex in the United Kingdom. It looks as if the inspiration for this hymn came from Christ parable of the wise and foolish builders. In the parable, Christ speaks of the foolish builder who built his house on sinking sand while the wise builder built his on solid rock. As you would imagine a storm easily swept away the one built on sand. Edward Mote - On Christ the Solid Rock Christ is the solid rock upon which we can build our house of faith. Any other foundation is like one on sand and will ultimately fail. On the authorship of this song Mr. Mote's explanation, communicated to the Gospel Herald, is

Videos And Stories Behind Hymns

Search This Blog