Be Joyful

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Be joyful in God, all ye lands of the earth

Author: James Montgomery (1822)
Published in 162 hymnals

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Representative Text

1 Be joyful in God, all ye lands of the earth;
O serve Him with gladness and fear!
Exult in His presence with music and mirth,
With love and devotion draw near.

2 Jehovah is God, and Jehovah alone,
Creator and Ruler o'er all;
And we are His people, His sceptre we own,
His sheep, and we follow His call.

3 O enter His gates with thanksgiving and song!
Your vows in His temple proclaim;
His praise with melodious accordance prolong,
And bless His adorable name.

4 For good is the Lord, inexpressibly good,
And we are the work of His hand;
His mercy and truth from eternity stood,
And shall to eternity stand.

Source: Methodist Hymn and Tune Book: official hymn book of the Methodist Church #235

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Author: James Montgomery

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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First Line:	Be joyful in God, all ye lands of the earth
Title:	Be Joyful
Author:	James Montgomery (1822)
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

Psalm 100
(hymns)

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Notes

Be joyful in God, all ye lands of the earth. J. Montgomery. [Ps. c.] Published in his Songs of Zion, 1822, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines, and in his Poetical Works, 1828 and 1846; but omitted from his Original Hymns, 1853. It is not in common use in Great Britain; but in America, from its appearance in the Prayer Book Collection, 1826, to the present, it has been included in numerous hymnals throughout the States. Original text in the American Baptist Praise Book, N. Y., 1871, No. 255.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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