We Rest on Thee
(Edith G. Cherry, Arranged and Performed by Dave Torres)
Trusting in the Eternal Shield
LYRICS (Click to minimize)
We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
We go not forth alone against the foe
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender
We rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go
Strong in Thy strength, safe in Thy keeping tender
We rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go
Yea, in Thy name, O Captain of salvation!
In Thy dear name, all other names above
Jesus our righteousness, our sure foundation
Our Prince of glory and our King of love
Jesus our righteousness, our sure foundation
Our Prince of glory and our King of love
We go in faith, our own great weakness feeling
And needing more each day Thy grace to know
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go”
Yet from our hearts a song of triumph pealing
“We rest on Thee, and in Thy name we go”
We rest on Thee, our Shield and our Defender!
Thine is the battle, Thine shall be the praise
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor
Victors, we rest with Thee through endless days
When passing through the gates of pearly splendor
Victors, we rest with Thee through endless days
Source: Hymnary.org
Songwriter: Bryan Fowler, Grayson Kessenich, Shane Barnard
© 2021 Simple Hymns Publishing, RELWOF, So Essential Tunes, Songs From Wellhouse
CCLI Song #7177986 | CCLI License #632898
Blessed be the Lord!
For he has heard the voice of my pleas for mercy.
The Lord is my strength and my shield;
in him my heart trusts, and I am helped;
my heart exults,
and with my song I give thanks to him.
The Lord is the strength of his people;
he is the saving refuge of his anointed.
Oh, save your people and bless your heritage!
Be their shepherd and carry them forever.
Psalm 28:6-9 (ESV)
“We Rest on Thee,” although not a very well-known hymn, bears with it a number of stories. Each one is not what we typically call a happy story, and yet they make the message of the hymn even more poignant: God is our shield even when the world seems against us.
The author of the text is Edith G. Cherry, whose life was far from perfect. She was disabled from the age of 16 months, and had to walk with crutches. Her only sister died at age 4 when Edith was 6. In her early life, she had a series of strokes, the third and last one being fatal. She died when she was only 25. However, in her short life, she wrote countless poems, enough to fill 2 volumes. What a life!1
And to think that this was the life from which overflowed the lyrics of “We rest on thee, our Shield and our Defender”! Hers was not at all an ideal life, and yet she leaned on God’s everlasting arms. And today, over a hundred years since her passing, we still learn from her example!
Her legacy outlasted her life. Another famous story associated with this hymn is equally tragic yet beautiful. This was the last hymn sung by five missionaries—Nate Saint, Ed McCully, Jim Elliott, Roger Yoderian, & Peter Fleming—who entered the Ecuadorian jungle, only to end up losing their lives to the natives.2
Once again, their lives were cut short, but not their legacy. Years after the missionaries’ deaths, the Aucas were contacted again, and many of them, including those who killed the missionaries, came to Christ! And somehow, it seems very believable that the missionaries celebrate the salvation even of their murderers!
One theme we trace through both these stories. God is our shield and our defender, and those who trust in Him through faith end up sowing seeds that grow a hundredfold. Truly, not all of our lives could bring entire villages to God, nor could all of us write hymns and poems that last decades and centuries. Even so, may we learn to trust God despite all fear.
As our church celebrates our Missions Month, may we have this in mind. The best missionaries, whether in the Ecuadorian jungle or your neighbor’s house, are not those who have inhuman strength or will, but those who trust in the Lord. And trust does not mean the Lord will not bring trials, but even those can be counted as joy when we go through them behind our Shield.
Maybe you are going through suffering and pain right now. Know that the Lord is God, and He is your strength and your shield. This may not negate the pain, like it did not erase the unfair and untimely deaths of Edith Cherry or the five missionaries. But even in the pain, even in the sorrow, there is joy and blessing to be found in the shelter of the Lord.
1 Perry, John. “Edith G. Cherry.” Hymnary, hymnary.org/person/Cherry_EG.
2 “We Rest on Thee.” The Cyber Hymnal, hymnary.org/hymn/CYBER/7232.