Fight the good fight with all thy might

Fight the good fight with all thy might. John Samuel Bewley Monsell* (1811-1875). From Monsell’s Hymns of Love and Praise for the Church’s Year (1863), where it was placed at the 19th Sunday after Trinity. It came into general use in the SPCK Church Hymns (1871; Church Hymns with Tunes, 1874), although it was not found in A&M until 1904. The Companion to ICH5 (2005) points out (p. 747) that each of the four verses is based on a passage from the New Testament epistles: 1 Timothy 6: 12; Hebrews 12: 2; 1 Peter 5: 7; and Colossians 3: 11. Monsell’s words, combined with the customary tune, DUKE STREET, make for stirring singing, but have given problems in verse 3, where he wrote: Cast care...