Upon Thine altar, Lord, I lay

Author: James Montgomery
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

Upon Thine altar, Lord, I lay
My poor, my only sacrifice;
Thou wilt not turn Thy face away,
Wilt not a broken heart despise.

Though hard as stone, cold as the clod,
Mine,--for Thy tender mercles' sake,
Not with the vengeance of Thy rod,
But by thy loving-kindness break,

Break it, and bind it, wound and heal,
Yea kill to make alive again;
Impress it with Thy Spirit's seal,
The sacrifice were perfect then:--

Perfect, yet all unworthy still:
But while in Jesus I believe,
Who came on earth to do Thy will,
From His dear hands my gift receive.

Receive it, with His blood bedew'd,
Receive it, offer'd with His prayers,
And, in Thine image thus renew'd,
Enroll me with Thy kingdom's heirs.

Sacred Poems and Hymns

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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 >

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