01c. 1812 ADFrom Adam to his youngest heir, Not one shall ’scape that muster-roll; Each, as if he alone were there, Shall stand, and win, or lose his soul: These from the Judge’s presence, go Down into everlasting woe; Vengeance hath barred the gates of hell— The scenes within no tongue can tell. But lo! far off, the righteous pass To glory; from the king’s right hand, In silence, on the sea of glass, Heaven’s numbers without number stand, While He who bore the cross, lays down His priestly robe and victor crown; The mediatorial reign complete, All things are put beneath His feet.James Montgomery / quote ↗
02c. 1812 ADStrange scenes, strange men, untold, untried distress; Pain, hardships, famine, cold, and nakedness, Diseases; death, in every hideous form, On shore, at sea, by fire, by flood, by storm; Wild beasts, and wilder men:—unmoved with fear, Health, comfort, safety, life they count not dear, May they but hope a Saviour’s love to show, And warn one spirit from eternal woe: Nor will they faint, nor can they strive in vain, Since thus—to live is Christ, to die is gain.James Montgomery / quote ↗
03c. 1812 ADThus saith the Lord,—My Church, to thee, Peace, like a river, I will send; The Gentiles in a stream shall see My mercy, flowing without end. The isles that never heard my fame, Nor knew the glory of my might, They shall be taught to fear my name Called out of darkness into light. And it shall come to pass, that vows From Sabbath unto Sabbath day, From moon to moon, in mine own house, All nations, tribes, and tongues, shall pay.James Montgomery / quote ↗
04c. 1812 ADHark! What petty pulses, beating, Spring new moments into light; Every pulse, its stroke repeating, Sends its moment back to night; Yet not one of all the train Comes uncall’d, or flits in vain. In the highest realms of glory Spirits trace, before the throne, On eternal scrolls, the story Of each little moment flown; Every deed, and word, and thought, Through the whole creation wrought. Were the volume of a minute Thus to mortal sight unroll’d, More of sin and sorrow in it, More of man, might we behold, Than on history’s broadest page In the reliques of an age.James Montgomery / quote ↗
05c. 1812 ADSilently, swift as the lightning’s blast, A hand of fire across his temples passed; He ran, as in the terror of a dream, To quench his burning anguish in the stream; But, bending o’er the brink, the swelling wave Back to his eye the branded visage gave; As soon on murdered Abel durst he look: Yet power to fly his palsied limbs forsook; There turned to stone, for his presumptuous crime, A monument of wrath to latest time, Might Cain have stood; but mercy raised his head In prayer for help,—his strength returned, he fled.James Montgomery / quote ↗
06c. 1812 ADThe God of nature and of grace In all His work appears; His goodness through the earth we trace, His grandeur in the spheres. Behold this fair and fertile globe, By Him in wisdom planned; ’Twas He who girded, like a robe, The ocean round the land. Lift to the firmament your eye, Thither His path pursue; His glory boundless as the sky, O’erwhelms the wandering view. The forests in His strength rejoice, Hark! on the evening breeze, As once of old, the Lord God’s voice Is heard among the trees. His blessings fall in plenteous showers Upon the lap of earth, That teems with foliage, fruit, and flowers, And rings with infant mirth. If God hath made the world so fair, Where sin and death abound; How beautiful, beyond compare, Will Paradise be found!James Montgomery / quote ↗
07c. 1812 ADAll hail!—the age of crime and suffering ends; The reign of righteousness from Heaven descends; Vengeance for ever sheathes the afflicting sword! Death is destroyed, and Paradise restored; Man, rising from the ruins of his fall, Is one with God, and God is All in all.James Montgomery / quote ↗
08c. 1812 ADWhate’er thy lot, whoe’er thou be, Confess thy folly,—kiss the rod; And in thy chastening sorrow, see The hand of God. A bruised reed He will not break— Afflictions all His children feel: He wounds them for His mercy’s sake— He wounds to heal.James Montgomery / quote ↗
09c. 1812 ADSow in the morn thy seed, At eve hold not thine hand; To doubt and fear give thou no heed,— Broad-cast it o’er the land. Beside all waters sow, The highway furrows stock; Drop it where thorns and thistles grow, Scatter it on the rock. The good, the fruitful ground, Expect not here nor there; O’er hill and dale, by plots ’tis found; Go forth, then, everywhere. Thou know’st not which may thrive, The late or early sown; Grace keeps the precious germs alive, When and wherever strown. And duly shall appear, In verdure, beauty, strength, The tender blade, the stalk, the ear, And the full corn at length. Thou canst not toil in vain; Cold, heat, and moist, and dry, Shall foster and mature the grain, For garners in the sky. Thence, when the glorious end, The day of God is come, The angel-reapers shall descend, And heaven cry, “Harvest home!”James Montgomery / quote ↗
10c. 1812 ADLord, let me know mine end, My days, how brief their date, That I may timely comprehend How frail my best estate. My life is but a span Mine age is nought with Thee; Man, in his highest honour, man Is dust and vanity.James Montgomery / quote ↗
11c. 1812 ADGo, walk about Zion and measure the length, Her walls and her bulwarks mark well; Contemplate her palaces, glorious in strength, Her towers and their pinnacles tell. Then say to your children:—“Our stronghold is tried, This God is our God to the end; His people for ever his counsels shall guide, His arm shall for ever defend.”James Montgomery / quote ↗
13c. 1812 ADO thou by whom we come to God The Life the Truth the Way The path of prayer Thyself hast trod- Lord teach us how to pray.James Montgomery / quote ↗
15c. 1812 ADBlue thou art, intensely blue; Flower, whence came thy dazzling hue?James Montgomery / quote ↗
