Perfection of the Laws and Testimony

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Thy law is perfect, Lord of light

Author: James Montgomery
Published in 70 hymnals

Piano/Organ
	The Art of Hymn Playing Volume II - Intr…

Choral
	To You My Eyes Are Turned

Handbells
	Lenten Reflections

Representative Text

1 Thy law is perfect, Lord of light;
Thy testimonies sure;
the statutes of Thy realm are right,
and Thy commandment pure.

2 Let these, O God, my soul convert,
and make Thy servant wise;
let these be gladness to my ears,
the dayspring to mine eyes.

3 By these may I be warned betimes;
who knows the guile within?
Lord, save me from presumptuous crimes;
cleanse me from secret sin.

4 So may the words my lips express,
the thoughts that throng my mind;
O Lord, my strength and righteousness,
With Thee acceptance find.

Source: Our Great Redeemer's Praise #435

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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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First Line:	Thy law is perfect, Lord of light
Title:	Perfection of the Laws and Testimony
Author:	James Montgomery
Meter:	8.6.8.6
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Tune

DUNDEE (Ravenscroft)

DUNDEE first appeared in the 1615 edition of the Scottish Psalter published in Edinburgh by Andro Hart. Called a "French" tune (thus it also goes by the name of FRENCH), DUNDEE was one of that hymnal's twelve "common tunes"; that is, it was not associated with a specific psalm. In the Psalter Hymnal…

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MARTYRDOM (Wilson)

MARTYRDOM was originally an eighteenth-century Scottish folk melody used for the ballad "Helen of Kirkconnel." Hugh Wilson (b. Fenwick, Ayrshire, Scotland, c. 1766; d. Duntocher, Scotland, 1824) adapted MARTYRDOM into a hymn tune in duple meter around 1800. A triple-meter version of the tune was fir…

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FARRANT

All tunes published with 'Perfection of the Laws and Testimony'^ top