Bible Songs — Missionary Songs

Ask not to be Excused

No. 1243
Tune ASK NOT TO BE EXCUSED.
Words F. E. Belden.
Music F. E. Belden.
Key E major
Singing key D major
Time 6/8
3 stanzas

Words

Ask not to be excused,There's earnest work to do;Stand ready to be usedWhere God may station you.His invitation kindTo thee has oft been giv'n;Accept, and thou shalt find'Tis sweet to work for Heav'n.

Ask not to be excused,The Master calls to-day;Too long hast thou refused,Now hasten to obey.The harvest fields are white,The laborers are few;Let this be thy delight,The Master's work to do.

Ask not to be excused,There's danger in delay;That wondrous love abused,Forever turns away.While Mercy gently pleadsAnd points the way to heav'n,While Jesus intercedes,O come and be forgiv'n.

REFRAIN

Come, O come, to-day,Ask not to be excused;Come, O come (to-day),Stand ready to be used.

D. S.—Ask not to be excused,This answer may be giv'n:Thou hast my love abused,Thou art excused from heav'n.

About this hymn

As printed As printed: no running head on p. 461 (the page opens with the hymn); hymn number «1243» (large, left), title «Ask not to be Excused.» centred (condensed capitals and small capitals: «A» and «E» full capitals); under it the epigraph in six lines of roman, «"A certain man made a great supper, … of my supper."—Luke 14 : 16–24.» (old-style figures, the two omissions marked «* *»); on the next line «F. E. BELDEN.» at the left (words) and «F. E. BELDEN.» at the right (music), both in capitals and small capitals; «Staccato movement.» in italics over the first system. No meter, no tune name other than the title, no reference line. All three stanzas are interlinear, numbered «1.»–«3.», between the staves of systems 1–3 (up to «Fine.»); «REFRAIN.» (bold capitals) stands over the end of system 3, and the refrain words are printed once, under systems 3–4, with the tenor and bass echo «to-day,» printed above the bass staff in system 3 (no parentheses there; given here after «Come, O come,» as the words sung in that bar) and «(to-day),» inside the line in system 4. Under the bass staff of systems 2–3, in italics, the words sung after the «D. S.» (from the segno to «Fine.»): «D. S.—Ask not to be ex - cused, This answer may be giv'n: / Thou hast my love a - bused, Thou art excused from heav'n.» Under the music, centred: «Copyrighted 1886 by F. E. Belden.». Each printed line of words carries two or four verse lines; they are given here one verse line per line. The words divided under the notes are joined here («ex-cused», «re-fused», «a-bused», «hast-en», «o-bey», «For-ev-er», «a-way», «in-vi-ta-tion», «la-bor-ers», «Ac-cept», «de-light», «Je-sus», «in-ter-cedes», «for-giv'n», «to-day», «de-lay») — the divisions are in `lyrics_syllables.txt`. The print sets «forHeav'n.» with no visible word space (stanza 1, last line): two words under two notes, written «for Heav'n.». The print sets a thin space before «;» and «:» («do ;», «giv'n :»); it is closed up here; the curly apostrophes are written straight («There's», «'Tis», «giv'n», «heav'n», «Master's»). Spelling, capitals («Heav'n» in stanza 1, «heav'n» in stanza 3 and in the D. S. line) and punctuation are the print's.