The Christian — Hymns for Social Worship

O brother, be faithful! soon Jesus will come

No. 509
Metre 11s & 8s.
Tune BROTHER, BE FAITHFUL.
Words U. Smith.
Music Unknown.
Key B-flat major
Singing key A♭ major
Time 2/2
4 stanzas

Words

O brother, be faithful! soon Jesus will come,For whom we have waited so long;O, soon we shall enter our glorious home,And join in the conqueror's song.O brother, be faithful! for why should we proveUnfaithful to him who hath shownSuch deep, such unbounded and infinite love—Who died to redeem us his own.

O brother, be faithful! the city of gold,Prepared for the good and the blest,Is waiting its portals of pearl to unfold,And welcome thee into thy rest.Then, brother, prove faithful! not long shall we stayIn weariness here, and forlorn,Time's dark night of sorrow is wearing away,We haste to the glorious morn.

O brother, be faithful! He soon will descend,Creation's omnipotent King,While legions of angels his chariot attend,And palm-wreaths of victory bring.O brother, be faithful! and soon shalt thou hearThy Saviour pronounce the glad word,Well done, faithful servant, thy title is clear,To enter the joy of thy Lord.

O brother, be faithful! eternity's yearsShall tell for thy faithfulness now,When bright smiles of gladness shall scatter thy tears,And a coronet gleam on thy brow.O brother, be faithful! the promise is sure,That waits for the faithful and tried;To reign with the ransomed, immortal and pure,And ever with Jesus abide.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: running head «THE CHRISTIAN—HYMNS FOR SOCIAL WORSHIP.»; hymn number «509» (large), tune name «BROTHER, BE FAITHFUL. 11s & 8s.» centred over the music, «UNKNOWN.» at the right (capitals and small capitals). Stanza 1 is interlinear, one line per system, with «1.» before «O»: system 1 = verse lines 1–2, system 2 = verse lines 3–4, system 3 = verse lines 5–6; verse lines 7–8 are printed in italics as a second line under system 2, preceded by «D. S.—», and are sung there after the «D. S.» at the end of system 3 (the music returns to the segno over «O,» and ends at «Fine.» after «song.»). Stanza 1 below is assembled in the order sung. «faithful!», «unbounded» and «Unfaith» are set unbroken under two or three notes; «con - queror's» is hyphenated once. The italic reference line «134, 46.» (= the same words may be sung to the tunes of hymns 134 or 46) stands under the music; stanzas 2–4 follow as text, stanza 2 and the first half of stanza 3 in the left column, the second half of stanza 3 and stanza 4 in the right column, numbered «2», «3», «4» without period, with «U. Smith.» in italics after stanza 4. The long lines are wrapped in the print («not long / shall we stay», «is wearing / away,», «will de- / scend,», «shalt / thou hear», «title is / clear,», «shall scat- / ter thy tears,», «promise is / sure,», «immortal / and pure,»); they are joined here. The print sets a thin space before «!» and «;» («faithful !», «long ;», «tried ;»); it is closed up here. «Well done, faithful servant,» is printed without quotation marks. Lines 2, 4, 6 and 8 of each stanza are indented in the print. Spelling, punctuation and capitals are the print's.