How amiable, how fair

Representative Text

How amiable, how fair
O Lord of Hosts! to me
Thy tabernacles are!
My flesh cries out for Thee;
My heart and soul, with heavenward fire,
To Thee, the living God, aspire,

108
The sparrow finds a place
To build her little nest,
The swallows' wandering race
Hither return to rest;
Beneath Thy roof their young ones cry,
And round Thine Altar learn to fly.

Thrice blessed they who dwell
Within Thy house, my God!
Where daily praises swell,
And still the floor is trod
By those, who in Thy presence bow;
By those whose King and God art Thou.

Through Baca's arid vale,
As pilgrims when they pass
The well-springs never fail;
Fresh rain renews the grass;
From strength to strength they journey still,
Till all appear on Zion's hill.

Lord God of Hosts! give ear,
A gracious answer yield;
O God of Jacob! hear;
Behold, O God! our shield;
Look on Thine own Anointed One
And save through thy beloved Son.

Lord, I would rather stand
A keeper at Thy gate,
Than on the king's right hand
In tents of earthly state;
One day within Thy courts, one day
Is worth a thousand cast away.

109
God is a sun of light,
Glory and grace to shed,
God is a helm of might
To guard the faithful head.
O Lord of Hosts! how happy he,
The man who puts his trust in Thee.

Source: Sacred Poems and Hymns #105

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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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