Give Us Sober Men

Give us sober men for leaders—

  Men who never take a drink;

Men who love our God and country,

  And whose minds are clear to think;

Men who strive to do their duty

  In places that they fill;

Men who can’t be bought with money,

  Nor with evils that would thrill.

Give us sober men in business,

  Whom, as patrons, we can trust;

Men whose characters are spotless

  And whose plans are fair and just;

Men who live the truth and tell it—

  Free from pretense and disguise;

Men whose aim and work and purpose

  Is to help their fellows rise.

Give us sober men as statesmen—

  Men who love our country’s laws;

Men who stand for righteous freedom

  And for every noble cause;

Men with hearts both kind and tender

  Toward their fellows that are down;

Men who wouldn’t sell their nation

  For a throne and robe and crown.

Give us sober men as fathers,

  Sober teachers for our schools;

Men with sound, exalted standards,

  Far removed from those of fools;

Men who love the Holy Bible

  And obey it, day by day;

Give us men to lead us upward—

  Men who watch and fast and pray.

--Walter E. Isenhour