The blessing of a night's repose

Author: James Montgomery
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

The blessing of a night's repose
Hath been vouchsafed to me:
Mine eyes from slumber I unclose,
And find myself with Thee.

The living, Lord! the living, they
Shall praise Thy name;--the dead
Are silenced till the judgment-day,
Each resting on his bed.

Had death's dark hand at midnight broke
The seal of life, and freed
My spirit from this earthly yoke,
Had I been free indeed?

Free from the flesh, and all its ills,
The world and Satan free,
To range the everlasting hills
In sinless liberty?

Or, having sold myself for nought,
For ever rue the cost,
Bound on the wheel of one dire thought,
"My soul, my soul is lost!"

O God! Thy people's hope of old,
Early I seek Thy face;
And bless Thy name that I behold
Another day of grace.

Sacred Poems and Hymns

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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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