A blessing on our pastor's head,
Lord God, we fervently implore;
On him this day a blessing shed,
For life, for death, for evermore.
For all that Thou in him hast wrought,
For all that Thou by him hast done,
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Our warmest, purest thanks be brought,
Through Jesus Christ our Lord, Thy Son.
To Thee be give his flower of youth,
To Thee his manhood's fruit he gave,
The herald of life-giving truth,
Dead souls from deathless death to save.
Forsake him not in his old age,
But while his Master's Cross he bears,
Faith be his staff on pilgrimage,
A crown of glory his grey hairs.
With holier zeal his heart enlarge,
Though strength decay, and sight grow dim,
That we, the people of his charge,
May glorify Thy grace in him.
So, when his warfare here shall cease,
By suffering perfected in love,
His ransom'd soul shall join in peace
The Church of the first-born above.
Sacred Poems and Hymns
James Montgomery (b. Irvine, Ayrshire, Scotland, 1771; d. Sheffield, Yorkshire, England, 1854), the son of Moravian parents who died on a West Indies mission field while he was in boarding school, Montgomery inherited a strong religious bent, a passion for missions, and an independent mind. He was editor of the Sheffield Iris (1796-1827), a newspaper that sometimes espoused radical causes. Montgomery was imprisoned briefly when he printed a song that celebrated the fall of the Bastille and again when he described a riot in Sheffield that reflected unfavorably on a military commander. He also protested against slavery, the lot of boy chimney sweeps, and lotteries. Associated with Christians of various persuasions, Montgomery supported missio… Go to person page >
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