545 Lo! what a cloud of witnesses

1 Lo! what a cloud of witnesses encompass us around! They, once like us with suffering tried, are now with glory crowned.

2 Let us, with zeal like theirs inspired, strive in the Christian race; and, freed from every weight of sin, their holy footsteps trace.

3 Behold a Witness nobler still, who trod affliction's path: Jesus, the author, finisher, rewarder of our faith.

4 He, for the joy before him set, and moved by pitying love, endured the cross, despised the shame, and now he reigns above.

5 Thither, forgetting things behind, press we to God's right hand; there, with the Savior and his saints, triumphantly to stand.