God in his temple let us meet

God in his temple let us meet

Author: James Montgomery
Tune: FEDERAL STREET
Published in 17 hymnals

Representative Text

God in his temple let us meet:
Low on our knees before Him bend,
Here hath He fix'd his Mercy-seat,
Here on his worship we attend.

Arise into thy resting-place,
Thou, and thine ark of strength, O Lord!
Shine through the veil, we seek Thy face;
Speak, for we hearken to Thy word.

With righteousness Thy priests array;
Joyful Thy chosen people be;
Let those who teach, and hear, and pray,
Let all be Holiness to Thee!

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: God in his temple let us meet
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

God in His temple let us meet. J. Montgomery. [Ps. cxxxii.] Appeared in Cotterill's Selection, 1819, p. 74, in 4 stanzas of 8 lines. In the revised edition of 1820, lines 1-12 were given instead of the full text of the previous edition, thus making a hymn in 3 stanzas of 4 lines. This was repeated in Montgomery's Songs of Zion, 1822, as No. 1 of Ps. 132, and the rest of the Cotterill text of 1819 as No. 2, beginning, "Lord, for Thy servant David's sake." Pt. i. was also included in his Original Hymns, 1853, No. 101. Both parts are in common use as separate hymns, but the first is found in the greater number of hymn books.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

FEDERAL STREET

Henry Kemble Oliver (b. Beverly, MA, 1800; d. Salem, MA, 1885) composed FEDERAL STREET in 1832, possibly as an imitation of earlier psalm tunes in long meter. He took it to a music class taught by Lowell Mason (who may have contributed to the harmony); Mason (PHH 96) published it in his Boston Acade…

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Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 17 of 17)
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A Collection of Hymns, for the use of the United Brethren in Christ #416

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Christian Hymns #66

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Church Psalmody #318

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Hymn Book of the Methodist Protestant Church. (2nd ed.) #299

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Hymn book of the Methodist Protestant Church. (4th ed.) #299

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Hymnal of the Presbyterian Church #70

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Hymns for Christian Devotion #75

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Hymns for the Sanctuary and Social Worship #126

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Plymouth Collection #a5

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Plymouth Collection of Hymns and Tunes; for the use of Christian Congregations #5

Text

Sacred Poems and Hymns #101

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The Baptist Hymn and Tune Book #5

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The Sabbath Hymn and Tune Book #376a

The Sabbath Hymn Book. Baptist ed. #d293

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Hymns for Christian Devotion #75

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The Gospel Psalmist #31

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