The Image of God

Representative Text

1 Father of eternal grace,
Glorify Thyself in me!
Meekly beaming in my face,
May the world Thine image see.

2 Happy only in Thy love,
Poor, unfriended, or unknown,
Fix my thoughts on things above;
Stay my heart on Thee alone.

3 Humble, holy, all resigned
To Thy will--Thy will be done!
Give me, Lord, the perfect mind
Of Thy well-beloved Son.

4 Counting gain and glory loss,
May I tread the path He trod,
Die with Jesus on the cross,
Rise with Him to Thee, my God!

Source: Christian Hymns: for church, school and home, with music #123

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: Father of eternal grace
Title: The Image of God
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 7.7.7.7
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Father of eternal grace [love] . J. Montgomery. [The Image of God desired.] Written in 1807, at the request of Mr. Gardiner, of Leicester, and published by him in his Sacred Melodies, 1808, in 4 stanzas of 4 lines. In 1812 it was included in Dr. Collyer's Collection, No. 919; in 1825 in Montgomery's Christian Psalmist, No. 464; and in 1853 in his Original Hymns, No. 186. It is in common use both in Great Britain and America. The hymn, "Father of eternal love," in Dr. Martineau's Hymns, &c, 1840 and 1873, is the same with slight alterations and the omission of stanza ii.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

MERCY (Gottschalk)


SAVANNAH

Robin Leaver, "The origins of the tune SAVANNAH," HSGBI Bulletin 153, vol. 10, no. 1 (January 1982), pp. 26–30.

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VIENNA (Knecht)


Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #9980
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The Cyber Hymnal #9980

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