Home, kindred, friends, and country, these

Home, kindred, friends, and country, these

Author: James Montgomery
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

Home, kindred, friends, and country, these
Are things with which we never part;
From clime to clime, o'er land and seas,
We bear them with us in our heart:
And yet 'tis hard to feel resign'd,
When these, all these, are left behind.

258
But when the pilgrim's staff we take,
And follow Christ from shore to shore,
Gladly for Him we all forsake,
Press on, and only look before:
Though humbled Nature mourns her loss,
The spirit glories in the Cross.

It is no sin, like man, to weep,
Even Jesus wept o'er Lazarus, dead;
Or yearn for home beyond the deep,
He had not where to lay His head:
The patriot's tears will He condemn,
Who wept o'er lost Jerusalem?

Take up your cross, and say "Farewell!"
Go forth without the camp to Him,
Who left heaven's throne with men to dwell,
Who died His murderers to redeem:
Oh! tell His name in every ear;
Doubt not,--the dead themselves will hear;

Hear, and come forth to life anew.
Then, while the Gentile courts they fill,
Shall not your Saviour's words stand true?
Home, kindred, friends, and country still,
In earth's last desert you shall find,
Yet lose not those you left behind.

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: Home, kindred, friends, and country, these
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 8.8.8.8.8.8
Language: English

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Text

Sacred Poems and Hymns #254

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