Running the Christian Race

Representative Text

1 Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve,
And press with vigor on;
A heavenly race demands thy zeal,
And an immortal crown.

2 A cloud of witnesses around
Hold thee in full survey;
Forget the steps already trod,
And onward urge thy way.

3 'Tis God's all-animating voice
That calls thee from on high;
'Tis His own hand presents the prize
To thine aspiring eye.

4 That prize, with peerless glories bright,
Which shall new lustre boast
When victors' wreaths and monarchs' gems
Shall blend in common dust.

5 Blest Savior, introduced by Thee,
Have I my race begun;
And crowned with victory at Thy feet
I'll lay my honors down.

Source: African Methodist Episcopal Church Hymnal #230

Author: Philip Doddridge

Philip Doddridge (b. London, England, 1702; d. Lisbon, Portugal, 1751) belonged to the Non-conformist Church (not associated with the Church of England). Its members were frequently the focus of discrimination. Offered an education by a rich patron to prepare him for ordination in the Church of England, Doddridge chose instead to remain in the Non-conformist Church. For twenty years he pastored a poor parish in Northampton, where he opened an academy for training Non-conformist ministers and taught most of the subjects himself. Doddridge suffered from tuberculosis, and when Lady Huntington, one of his patrons, offered to finance a trip to Lisbon for his health, he is reputed to have said, "I can as well go to heaven from Lisbon as from Nort… Go to person page >

Notes

Awake, my soul, stretch every nerve. P. Doddridge. [Confirmation.] This hymn is not given in the "D. MSS." It was first published by J. Orton in his edition of Doddridge's Hymns, &c, 1755, No. 296, in 5 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled "Pressing on in the Christian Race." It was repeated in all subsequent editions of the Hymns, and also in Doddridge's Scripture Hymns, edited by J. Doddridge Humphreys, 1839. One of the earliest collections in which it is found is Ash and Evans's Bristol Collection, 1769, No. 281, with the omission of st. iv. ”That prize," &c. From that date it came into general use, sometimes in 4 stanzas, and again in 5 stanzas until it became widely known both in Great Britain and America. In modern collections it is held in greater favour by those of the Church of England than those of Nonconformists. Full original text in the New Congregational Hymn Book, No. 617, and the 4 stanza form unaltered, in Hymnal Companion, No. 452. In the latter collection the editor suggests that in Confirmation it be sung after the benedictory prayer, “Defend, O Lord, this Thy servant," &c. This 4 stanza arrangement has been rendered into Latin:—"Sursum, mens mea! Strenué," by the Rev. R. Bingham, and given in his Hymnologia Christina Latina, 1871, pp. 101-103. A slightly altered form of the hymn, as “Awake, our souls, awake from sloth" is given in a few hymnals, including Walker's Cheltenham Collection, 1855 and 1881.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

CHRISTMAS (Handel)

The tune is based on the the beginning of the soprano aria "Non vi piacque ingiusti dei" from the opera "Siroe"

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (801 - 900 of 1047)

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The Halifax Selection of Hymns #d39

The Harvard University Hymn Book #d19

The Harvard University Hymn Book #197

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The Haverford School Hymnal #242

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The Hill School Hymnal and Service Book #d12

The Hour of Praise #d3

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The Hymn Book of the African Methodist Episcopal Church #655

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The Hymn Book of the Free Methodist Church #635

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The Hymnal #278

The Hymnal #306

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The Hymnal #480

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The Hymnal 1982 #546

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The Hymnal and Order of Service #506

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The Hymnal and Order of Service #506

The Hymnal for Schools #d13

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The Hymnal for Schools #145

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The Hymnal for Young People #214

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The Hymnal of the Evangelical Lutheran Augustana Synod. Text ed. #d39

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The Hymnal #436

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The Hymnal #111

The Hymnal #285

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The Hymnal #496

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The Hymnal #480

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The Hymnal #503a

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The Hymnal #503b

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The Hymnal #476

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The Hymnbook #346

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The Hymns from the Children's Hymnal; with a Service, for Sunday Schools #d21

The Imperial Harmony #d19

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The Institute Hymnal #134

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The Jewel #125

The Joyful News Song Book; a Collection of Hymns for Evangelistic Services. Enlarged ed. #d12

The Jubilee Songster #d11

The Junior Methodist Hymnal #d6

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The Key-Stone Collection of Church Music #110b

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The Key-Stone Collection of Church Music #132a

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The Lecture-Room Hymn-Book #H180

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The Lecture-Room Hymn-Book #T37

The Lesser Hymnal #d24

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The Lexington Collection #80

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The Lyrica #283

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The Manual of Praise for Sabbath and Social Worship #411

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The Melodeon #18

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The Melodeon #98

The Mennonite Hymnal #332

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The Methodist Hymnal (Text only edition) #396

The Methodist Hymnal #d44

The Methodist Hymnal #359

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The Methodist Hymnal #396

The Methodist Protestant Church Hymnal #d32

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The Methodist Sunday School Hymnal #203

The Middlesex Hymn Book #d9

The Middlesex Hymn Book #d11

The Millennial Harp #d37

The Milton Hymnal #d20

The Mission Hymnal #d6

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The Mission Hymnal #121

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The Mission Hymnal. (Enlarged Edition) #121

The Missionary Tune Book #d7

The Modern Harp #d25

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The Modern Hymnal #90

The Modern Psalmist #d17

The National Baptist Hymn Book #d49

The National Baptist Hymn Book #ad49

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The National Baptist Hymnal #417

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The National Hymn Book of the American Churches #65

The National Psalmist #d9

The New Alphabetical Hymnal #d34

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The New Baptist Praise Book #324a

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The New Baptist Praise Book #324b

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The New Baptist Praise Book #324a

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The New Baptist Praise Book #324b

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The New Baptist Psalmist and Tune Book #442

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The New Century Hymnal #172

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The New Century Hymnal #491

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The New Christian Hymnal #321

The New Church Hymnal #d33

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The New Church Hymnal #282

Pages

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