Full speed along the world's highway,
By crowds of eager travellers trod,
My soul, my soul, a moment stay,
To hold communion with thy God.
He spake with Abraham at the oak,
He call'd Elisha from the plough,
David He from the sheep-folds took;
Thy day, Thy hour of grace is now.
Earth, with thy vanities, depart!
My God, I stand alone with Thee;
Thine eye is looking on my heart;
Oh! what a noon is risen on me!
Struck to the ground, like conscious Saul,
And blinded with the sudden view,
Trembling, astonish'd, "Lord," I call,
What wouldst Thou have Thy servant do?"
My sins, as fresh-committed, rise;
My secret sins, by darkness seal'd,
Before my Judge's flaming eyes,
Are all in naked guilt reveal'd.
Lord, lay Thine hand upon my head;
A touch, a word, will make me whole;
Speak with the voice that wakes the dead,
Peace, pardon, comfort, to my soul.
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Then, though I shudder at Thy sight,
Through Him who my offences bore,
In light, as God is in the light,
I walk by faith, and sin no more.
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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