Lord God, the Holy Ghost

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 >

Lord God, the Holy Ghost. J. Montgomery. [Whitsuntide.] Published in Cotterill's Selection, 8th ed., 1819, No. 226, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines, and headed "Whit-Sunday." In Montgomery's Christian Psalmist, 1825, No. 506, and in his Original Hymns, 1853, No. 136, the text is slightly altered. This amended text is that given in Lord Selborne's Book of Praise, 1862, and in most of the collections which give the hymn. Its use in Great Britain and America is extensive.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)