What is our life?

What is our life?--a breath, a span

Author: James Montgomery
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

What is our life?--a breath, a span,
A spark struck out, then lost in night;
Amidst Thy works, Lord, what is man,
That Thou in him shouldst take delight?

Thou self-existent, Thou alone,
Father of endless ages art!
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Earth is Thy footstool, heaven Thy throne,
Yet scorn'st Thou not a broken heart.

That drear and desolate domain,
By evil spirits long possest,
Will bloom like Eden in Thy reign
Of love and joy, of peace and rest.

Oh! wouldst Thou deign to visit mine,
With Thy sweet presence fill the place,
How would that new creation shine
With all the glory of Thy grace!

Then life no more a breath would be,
A span, a spark, absorb'd in night,
Life would be immortality,
And darkness everlasting light.

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: What is our life?--a breath, a span
Title: What is our life?
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English

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Text

Sacred Poems and Hymns #160

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