A race on earth, a race we run

A race on earth, a race we run

Author: James Montgomery
Published in 1 hymnal

Representative Text

A race on earth, a race we run,
And bold a prize in view,
More bright than if we chased the sun
Through heaven's eternal blue.

151
Changes we prove, and vanish soon,--
Changes from youth to age,--
Transient as those that shape the moon
On her brief pilgrimage.

Like constellations on their way,
That meet the morning light,
We travel up to higher day,
We pass through deeper night.

Their tasks the heavenly hosts fulfil,
Ere long to shine their last;
We, if we do our Father's will,
Shall shine when they are past.

Knit like the social stars in love,
Fair as the moon, and clear
As yonder sun, enthroned above,
Christians through life appear,

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: A race on earth, a race we run
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English

Instances

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Text

Sacred Poems and Hymns #147

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