Why thus, my soul, cast down?
And why disquieted?
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Black though the tempest frown,
The surge pass o'er thy head;
Wait the fourth watch;--for One who saves
Comes to thee, walking on the waves.
Lord! Lord! if it be Thou,
Bid me come down to Thee;
Jesus! I know Thee now,
And walk upon the sea;
Faith fails; ah me! the gulf runs high,
Save, Lord, I sink! O save, I die!
I grasp thy outstretch'd hand;
We climb the vessel's side;
And lo! we touch the land,
The storm is pacified;
While winds and waves thy voice obey,
Oh! why am I more deaf than they?
Why, when I know Thy will
Is my salvation, Lord,
When Thou says't "Peace, be still!"
How can I doubt Thy word?
Speak with that all-commanding might,
Which said to darkness,--"Be thou light!"
Speak with that power, which said
To Peter, "Follow me!"
Call'd Lazarus from the dead;
Then must I yield to Thee,
For Thee, like Peter, all forsake.
Like Lazarus, from the dead awake.
Sacred Poems and Hymns
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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