Rise, O My Soul, Pursue the Path

Rise

O my soul

pur­sue the path

By an­cient her­oes trod;

Ambitious view those ho­ly men

Who lived and walked with God.

Though dead

they speak in rea­son’s ear

And in ex­am­ple live;

Their faith

and hope

and migh­ty deeds

Still fresh in­struct­ion give.

Say

by whose strength their fee­ble flesh

Such va­ri­ous toils sus­tained;

Say

by what means these heirs of grace

Immortal tri­umphs gained.

’Twas through the Lamb’s most pre­cious blood

They con­quered ev­ery foe;

And to His pow­er and match­less grace

Their crowns and hon­ors owe.

Warmed by the love that stirred their breasts

We shall be he­roes

too;

Inspired by eq­ual faith and zeal

What won­ders we shall do.

The world and flesh shall be de­nied

Nor shall we dread the cross;

Pleased that our fu­ture gains in­crease

By ev­ery pre­sent loss.

Lord

may I ev­er keep in view

The pat­terns Thou hast giv­en

And ne’er for­sake the bless­èd path

That led them safe to Heav­en.