We plan foundations for the dead

We plan foundations for the dead

Author: James Montgomery
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

We plan foundations for the dead,
But lay the earliest stone to Thee,
Who, as the whole Creation's Head,
Alone hast immortality.

For in, and through, and over all,
Extends Thy universal reign;
We know the heaven of heavens too small,
Thy power and glory to contain.

In Sinai's howling wilderness,
Of old Thy presence deign'd to dwell;
The Tabernacle stood to bless,
And guard the tents of Israel.

So on this yet unpeopled plot,
Whither the living shall repair,
And thronging graves surround the spot,
To Thee shall rise an house of prayer.

Watch o'er this sanctuary keep,
And oh! may all who slumber here,
Redeem'd from sin in Jesus sleep,
Till He who is their life appear.

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As in His rock-hewn sepulchre,
Where man had never lain before,
Thy Son once rested,--we inter
Our kindred, seen on earth no more.

Then, at the last loud trumpet's breath,
When quick and dead before Him stand
Saved from both first and second death,
May these be found on his right-hand.

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: We plan foundations for the dead
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English

Notes

We plan foundations for the dead. J. Montgomery. [Foundation Stone of a Cemetery Chapel.] The manuscript of this hymn is dated “May 5, 1848." The hymn was written for the laying of the foundation-stone of the chapel for the Church of England portion of the Sheffield General Cemetery. Montgomery's hymn, "Father of glory, God of grace," was written for the Opening of the same, and is dated "June 27, 1850." Montgomery died on April 30, 1854, and was buried under the shadow of the spire of this chapel.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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Text

Sacred Poems and Hymns #303

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