A world of sinners once was drowned

A world of sinners once was drowned

Author: James Montgomery
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

A world of sinners once was drown'd,
A deluge swept them all away;
One family alone had found
Mercy in that great Judgment Day.

Forewarn'd of wrath to come, they fear'd,
And, taught by God, prepared an ark,
Which o'er the waves in sunshine steer'd,
Where all below was dead and dark.

Again the Spirit of the Lord
Moved on the formless deep and void,
And to the Patriarchs sight restored
The relics of that world destroyed:

A world without a breathing soul,
Or sign of life in plant or tree;
Stretch'd like a corpse from pole to pole,
Untravell'd land, unvoyaged sea!

Then from their hiding place they came,
And straightway built an altar there;
Whence rose to heaven the double flame
Of pure burnt sacrifice and prayer.

We, in an ark not made with hands,
God's own new covenant of peace,
Which on the rock of ages stands,
Seek refuge till his anger cease.

Then, as the cloud-born rainbow smiled
On Noah's ransom'd ones, we trace
Our heavenly Father reconciled
In our incarnate Saviour's face.

Sacred Poems and Hymns

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 >

Text Information

First Line: A world of sinners once was drowned
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English

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Text

Sacred Poems and Hymns #20

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