Green pastures and clear streams,
Freedom and quiet rest,
58
Christ's flock enjoy, beneath His beams,
Or in His shadow rest.
The mountain and the vale,
Forest and field, they range;
The morning dew, the evening gale,
Bring health in every change.
Secure amidst alarms,
From violence or snares,
The lambs He gathers in His arms,
And in His bosom bears.
The woumded and the weak
He comforts, heals, and binds;
The lost He came from heaven to seek,
And saves them when He finds.
Through wilds of brier and thorn,
In darkness if they stray,
They wander not like waifs forlorn;
Their Shepherd is their way.
Should storms of trouble blow,
Warn'd of the coming shock,
They to the Rock of Ages go;
Their Shepherd is their Rock.
Let earth and hell oppose,
Let Satan take the field;
Quench'd are the darts of all their foes;
Their Shepherd is their shield.
Death may assail; but death
Is vanquish'd in the strife;
The moment of departing breath,
Begins eternal life.
59
Conflicts and trials done,
His glory they behold,
Where Jesus and His flock are one,
One Shepherd and one fold.
When the last trump shall sound,
And graves break up their sleep,
At His right hand may we be found,
Among the chosen sheep.
Sacred Poems and Hymns
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 >| First Line: | Green pastures and clear streams |
| Author: | James Montgomery |
| Meter: | 6.6.8.6 |
| Language: | English |
| Copyright: | Public Domain |
My Starred Hymns