Go, labour on; spend, and be spent

Go, labour on; spend, and be spent. Horatius Bonar* (1808-1889). Written in the early years of Bonar’s ministry for a mission at Leith; there is some doubt as to the exact date. In Hymns by Horatius Bonar (1908), the author’s son, H.N. Bonar, says that it was probably written in 1836, as his father left Leith in 1837 after four years. It was printed in leaflet form, and later in Bonar’s Songs of the Wilderness (1843). It had eight stanzas: Go, labour on; spend, and be spent,  Thy joy to do the Father's will;It is the way the Master went;  Should not the servant read it still? Go, labour on; ’tis not for nought; Thy earthly loss is heav'nly gain; Men heed thee, love thee, praise thee...