fighting the lies within

Set up Thy standard, Lord, that we
Who claim a heavenly birth,
May march with Thee to smite the lies
That vex Thy groaning earth.

Yet who can fight for truth and God,
Enthralled by lies and sin?
He who would wage such war on earth
Must first be true within.

O God of truth for whom we long,
O Thou that hearest prayer,
Do Thine own battle in our hearts,
And slay the falsehood there.

~ Thomas Huges

** This poem is exerpted as found in Sinclair B. Ferguson's Discovering God's Will (1982). However, I did notice there are a few variations of Hughes' poem / hymn on the internet...but I just quoted it as it was in the book.