According to Thy Gracious Word

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According to Thy gracious word

Author: James Montgomery (1825)
Communion Songs
Published in 545 hymnals

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	According to Thy Gracious Word

Piano/Organ
	The Road to Redemption (Organ and Piano…

Choral
	To You My Eyes Are Turned

Representative Text

1 According to thy gracious word,
in meek humility,
this will I do, my dying Lord,
I will remember thee.

2 Thy body, broken for my sake,
my bread from heav'n shall be;
thy testamental cup I take,
and thus remember thee.

3 Gethsemane can I forget?
Or there thy conflict see,
thine agony and bloody sweat,
and not remember thee?

4 When to the cross I turn mine eyes,
and rest on Calvary,
O Lamb of God, my sacrifice,
I must remember thee.

5 Remember thee, and all thy pains,
and all thy love to me:
when thou shalt in thy kingdom come,
Jesus, remember me.

Source: Trinity Psalter Hymnal #203

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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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Related Texts

First Line:	According to Thy gracious word
Title:	According to Thy Gracious Word
Original Language:	English
Author:	James Montgomery (1825)
Meter:	8.6.8.6
Language:	English
Notes:	Spanish translation: See "Según tu dicho al expirar" by Juan Bautista Cabrera Ivars; Swahili translation: See "Kama ulivyoagiza"
Copyright:	Public Domain
Liturgical Use:	Communion Songs

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Notes

Scripture References:
st. 1 = Luke 22:19
st. 2 = 1 Cor. 11:24-25
st. 3 = Matt. 26:36-39, Luke 22:44
st. 4 = Isa. 53:6-7, John 1:29
st. 5 = Luke 23:42

One of the best-loved hymns of James Montgomery (PHH 72), "According to Thy Gracious Word" was published in six stanzas in The Christian Psalmist (1825) under the subtitle 'This do in remembrance of me," Jesus' words from Luke 22: 19. The Psalter Hymnal omits the original stanza 5.

Reflective and meditative, the text focuses on the memorial aspect of the Lord's Supper–each stanza concludes with the word remember. Our memory of Jesus can be taken two ways, of course: in the active sense, as in ancient liturgies and in the Reformation teachings of John Calvin; or in the passive sense, as in liturgies espoused by Ulrich Zwingli. Montgomery underlined "I will remember thee" in his manuscript, possibly indicating that he intended to promote the classic, active sense of anamnesis. (This untranslatable Greek word refers to the active way in which Christ is present with us in the Lord's Supper.) The text is strong and effective because of its biblical quotations and allusions (see Scripture references).

Liturgical Use:
During the Lord's Supper as a meditative hymn; Lent; Holy Week; also makes a fine Passion hymn (without st. 2).

--Psalter Hymnal Handbook

================================

According to Thy gracious word. J. Montgomery. [Holy Communion.] No copy of this hymn is preserved in the "Montgomery manuscript." Its first publication was in the author's Christian Psalmist, 1825, p. 405, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines with the motto “This do in remembrance of Me." From its first appearance it has been one of the most popular of hymns for "Holy Communion," and is found in most modern collections of a moderate type. Usually, however, st. ii. 1. 2, which reads: “Thy testamental cup I take” is altered to "The cup, Thy precious Blood, I take," as in Taring's Collection, No. 524, or, “I’ll take," as in the Salisbury Hymn Book, 1857, and Kennedy, 1863, No. 650. In 1853 it was republished by Montgomery in his Original Hymns, No. 129. In common with Montgomery's hymns it has no doxology. That usually found with it, "To Thee, O Jesus, Light of Light, All praise and glory be," &c, is from the Salisbury Hymn Book, 1857. In Hedge & Huntington's Unitarian Hymns of the Church, Boston, U, S. A., 1853, No. 388, "Gethsemane, can I forget?" is composed of stanzas iii., ii., iv., v. of this hymn.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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Tune

MARTYRDOM (Wilson)

MARTYRDOM was originally an eighteenth-century Scottish folk melody used for the ballad "Helen of Kirkconnel." Hugh Wilson (b. Fenwick, Ayrshire, Scotland, c. 1766; d. Duntocher, Scotland, 1824) adapted MARTYRDOM into a hymn tune in duple meter around 1800. A triple-meter version of the tune was fir…

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Baptist Hymnal 1991 #372

Bulletin Score (PDF)
Full Score (PDF)
Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)

The Celebration Hymnal: songs and hymns for worship #463

PDF (PDF)

The Cyber Hymnal #25

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Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
XML score (XML)

Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #298

Full Score (PDF, XML)
Bulletin Score (PDF)
Bulletin Score (melody only) (PDF)

MIDI file from Baptist Hymnal 1991 #372
Audio recording from Baptist Hymnal 1991 #372
MIDI file from Baptist Hymnal 1991 #372
MIDI file from Chalice Hymnal #402
MIDI file from The Cyber Hymnal #25
MIDI file from Inspiring Hymns #91
MIDI file from Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #298
MIDI file from Psalter Hymnal (Gray) #298
MIDI file from The Voice of Thanksgiving #33

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Page Scans

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Trinity Psalter Hymnal (2018), p.452

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Instances

Instances (1 - 100 of 545)

Hymns, Selected and Original, for Public and Private Worship, published by General Synod for the Evangelical Lutheran Church. 68th ed. (8th rev. ed.) #d3

Christian Psalms and Hymns to Aid in Public and Private Devotion #d6

Congregational Hymn and Tune Book; containing the Psalms and Hymns of the General Association of Connecticut, adapted to Suitable Tunes #728

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Piano/Organ The Road to Redemption (Organ and Piano Duets for Palm Sunday to Easter) WONDROUS CROSS, THE Tell the Story (Ten Gospel Hymn Arrangements for Piano) More Piano/Organ...
Choral To You My Eyes Are Turned More Choral...
Handbells Lenten Reflections Lenten Reflections Six or More for Lent and Easter More Handbells...
PowerPoint ACCORDING TO THY GRACIOUS WORD (Hymnal for Worship & Celebration 321) ACCORDING TO THY GRACIOUS WORD (Trinity Hymnal 423) I WILL REMEMBER THEE (Celebration 463) More PowerPoint...

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