Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Gates of Brass

Representative Text

1 Lift up your heads, you gates of brass;
ye bars of iron, yield;
and let the King of Glory pass;
the cross is in the field.

2 That banner, brighter than the star
that leads the train of night,
shines on the march, and guides from far
his servants to the fight.

3 A holy war those servants wage;
in that mysterious strife,
the powers of heaven and hell engage
for more than death or life.

4 Ye armies of the living God,
sworn warriors of Christ's host,
where hallowed footsteps never trod,
take their appointed post.

5 Though few and small and weak your bands,
strong in your Captain's strength,
go to the conquest of all lands;
all must be his at length.

6 The spoils at his victorious feet
you shall rejoice to lay,
and lay yourselves as trophies meet,
in his great judgment day.

7 Then fear not, faint nor, halt not now;
in Jesus' name, be strong!
To him shall all the nations bow,
and sing the triumph song—

8 uplifted are the gates of brass,
the bars of iron yield;
behold the King of Glory pass;
the cross hath won the field.

Source: CPWI Hymnal #432

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: Lift up your heads, ye gates of brass
Title: Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Gates of Brass
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Lift up your heads, ye gates of brass. J. Montgomery. [Missions.] This hymn is amongst the “M. MSS.," but is undated. It was printed in the Evangelical Magazine, 1843; and again in Montgomery's Original Hymns, 1853, No. 265, in 19 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled "China Evangelized"; Pt. ii. beginning “Ye armies of the living God”; and Pt. iii. "No carnal weapons those ye bear." In the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge em>Church Hymns, 1871, No. 291, is composed of stanzas i.—iii., xviii., xix. some¬what altered.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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CPWI Hymnal #432

Hymns and Psalms #227

Hymns for Today's Church (2nd ed.) #509

Hymns of the Christian Life #447

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The Cyber Hymnal #4078

Include 90 pre-1979 instances
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