O for the wisdom from above

Author: James Montgomery
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

O for the wisdom from above,
Pure, gentle, peaceable, and mild,
The innocency of the dove,
The meekness of a little child.

Wise may we be to know the truth,
Reveal'd in every Scripture page;
Wise to salvation from our youth,
And wiser grow from stage to stage.

79
Then if to riper years, we rise,
And well the work of grace be wrought
Within ourselves,--we shall be wise
To teach in turn what we were taught.

Yet still be learning, day by day,
More of God's Word, God's way, God's will;
His law, rejoicing to obey,
Pleas'd His whole pleasure to fulfill,

Wise to win souls, if thus we're led,
How blest will be our lot below,
Blessings to share, and blessings shed
On all with whom to heaven we go.

So may we reach that home at length,
And, clad in righteousness divine,
Even as the sun, when in his strength,
And as the stars, for ever, shine.

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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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