Almighty God, in humble prayer

Representative Text

1 Almighty God, in humble prayer
To Thee our souls we lift:
Do Thou our waiting minds prepare
For Thy most needful gift.

2 We ask not golden streams of wealth
Along our path to flow;
We ask not undecaying health,
Nor length of years below.

3 We ask not honors, which an hour
May bring or take away;
We ask not pleasure, pomp, and power,
Lest we should go astray.

4 We ask for wisdom:--Lord, impart
The knowledge how to live;
A wise and understanding heart
To all before Thee give.

5 The young remember Thee in youth,
Before the evil day!
The old be guided by Thy truth
In wisdom's pleasant way!

Source: Church Book: for the use of Evangelical Lutheran congregations #466

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: Almighty God, in humble prayer
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Almighty God, in humble prayer. J. Montgomery. [For Wisdom.] This hymn is in the "M. MSS.," but undated. It was published in Montgomery's Christian Psalmist, 1825, No. 498, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines and entitled "Solomon's Prayer for Wisdom." It is repeated, without alteration, in his Original Hymns, 1853, No. 70. In modern collections it is usually given in an abbreviated form, as in Windle's Metrical Psalter & Hymnal, No. 11, Harland's Church Psalter, No. 199, the American Sabbath Hymn Book, &c.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

ST. FULBERT


CANONBURY

Derived from the fourth piano piece in Robert A. Schumann's Nachtstücke, Opus 23 (1839), CANONBURY first appeared as a hymn tune in J. Ireland Tucker's Hymnal with Tunes, Old and New (1872). The tune, whose title refers to a street and square in Islington, London, England, is often matched to Haver…

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The Cyber Hymnal #12961
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The Cyber Hymnal #12961

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