Help, or I Perish

Representative Text

1 By Thy birth, and by Thy tears,
By Thy human griefs and fears,
By Thy conflict in the hour
Of the subtle tempter's power:
Saviour, look with pitying eye;
Saviour, help me, or I die.

2 By Thy lonely hour of prayer,
By Thy fearful conflict there,
By Thy cross and dying cries,
By Thy one great sacrifice:
Saviour, look with pitying eye;
Saviour, help me, or I die.

3 By Thy triumph o'er the grave,
By Thy power the lost to save,
By Thy high, majestic throne,
By the empire all Thine own,
Saviour, look with pitying eye;
Saviour, help me, or I die.

AMEN.

Source: The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal: official hymnal of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church #425

Author: Robert Grant

Robert Grant (b. Bengal, India, 1779; d. Dalpoorie, India, 1838) was influenced in writing this text by William Kethe’s paraphrase of Psalm 104 in the Anglo-Genevan Psalter (1561). Grant’s text was first published in Edward Bickersteth’s Christian Psalmody (1833) with several unauthorized alterations. In 1835 his original six-stanza text was published in Henry Elliott’s Psalm and Hymns (The original stanza 3 was omitted in Lift Up Your Hearts). Of Scottish ancestry, Grant was born in India, where his father was a director of the East India Company. He attended Magdalen College, Cambridge, and was called to the bar in 1807. He had a distinguished public career a Governor of Bombay and as a member of the British Parliament, where… Go to person page >

Alterer: 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 >

Text Information

First Line: By thy birth, and by thy tears
Title: Help, or I Perish
Author: Robert Grant
Alterer: James Montgomery
Meter: 7.7.7.7.7.7
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

From the hymn "Saviour when in dust to thee," by Robert Grant, altered by James Montgomery for Thomas Cotterill's Selection of Psalms and Hymns, 8th Ed. (1819).

Tune

TOPLADY (Hastings)


REDHEAD NO. 76

REDHEAD 76 is named for its composer, who published it as number 76 in his influential Church Hymn Tunes, Ancient and Modern (1853) as a setting for the hymn text "Rock of Ages." It has been associated with Psalm 51 since the 1912 Psalter, where the tune was named AJALON. The tune is also known as P…

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ORON


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The Cyber Hymnal #663
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Instances

Instances (1 - 73 of 73)

A Collection of Choral Hymns for the ... Hanson Place Methodist Episcopal Congregation #d21

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A Collection of Hymns for the use of the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in America #395

A New Book of Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal and Other Churches #d30

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Choral Echoes from the Church of God in All Ages #107

Compilation of Hymns for the Use of the Churches of the Christian Union #d99

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Coronation Hymns and Songs #118

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Devotional Melodies #107

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Dew Drops of Sacred Song #120a

Echoes of Eden #d20

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Evangelical Hymnal #237

Family and Social Melodies #d50

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Free Methodist Hymnal #242

Good News in Song. Rev. ed. #d18

Great Hymns of the Church, Selected from the Methodist Hymnal #d16

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Hymn and Tune Book of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (Round Note Ed.) #348

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Hymn Book of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South #348

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Hymn Book of the United Evangelical Church #237

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Hymn-Book of the Evangelical Association #284

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Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church #417

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Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church #417

Hymns and Spiritual Songs for Bible Schools #d22

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Hymns for the Sanctuary and Social Worship #513

Hymns for the Use of the Brethren in Christ #d65

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Hymns for the Use of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Rev. ed. #395

Hymns of Grace and Glory #d17

Hymns of the Millennial Dawn #ad26

Hymns of the Millennial Dawn, with Music #d26

Hymns of Worship and Songs of the Gospel #d38

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Hymns of Worship #452

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Imperial Songs #125

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Joy to the World #186

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Methodist Social Hymn Book #91

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New Hymn and Tune book #339a

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New Hymn and Tune Book #339a

New Spiritual Songs #218b

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Our New Hymnal #208

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Poems and Hymns of Dawn #26

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Sacred Hymns and Tunes #180

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Sacred Melodies for Social Worship #229

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Salvation Army Songs #177

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Select Songs No. 2 #203

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Songs of Redemption #277

Songs of the Soul #d12

Songs of the Soul #d20

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Spiritual Songs for Gospel Meetings and the Sunday School #106b

Standard Revival Songs, and Bible Readings #d8

The A. M. E. Zion Hymnal #201

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The A.M.E. Zion Hymnal #425

The Book of Hymns #d69

The Chapel Hymn Book #d48

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The Cyber Hymnal #663

The Evangelical Hymn and Tune Book #d81

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The Gospel in Song #259

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The Heart and Voice #308a

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The Hymn Book of the Free Methodist Church #369

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The Methodist Hymnal (Text only edition) #280

The Methodist Hymnal #d69

The Methodist Hymnal #207

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The Methodist Hymnal #280

The More Perfect Gospel Hymnal, a Revision of the Cross and Resurrection in Song #d34

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The Otterbein Hymnal #130a

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The Otterbein Hymnal #130b

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The People's Hymnal #130a

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The People's Hymnal #130b

The Singing Pilgrim #d22

The Song Book of the Salvation Army #d97

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The Voice of Praise #421

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The Voice of Triumph (19th ed.) #271

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The Wesleyan Methodist Hymnal #242

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Winnowed Hymns #124f

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