When God from sin's captivity

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When God from sin's captivity

Author: James Montgomery
Tune: MENDON (17151)
Published in 8 hymnals

Representative Text

1. When God from sin's captivity
Sets his afflicted people free,
Lost in a maze, their mercies seem,
The transient raptures of a dream.

2. But soon their ransomed souls rejoice,
And mirth and music swell their voice,
Till foes confess, nor dare condemn,
The Lord has done great things for them.

3. They catch the strain and answer thus:
The Lord has done great things for us,
Whence gladness fills our hearts, and songs,
Sweet and spontaneous, wake our tongues.

4. Turn our captivity, O Lord,
As flowing rivers, at thy word,
Bound from their channels, and restore
Plenty where all was waste before.

5. Who sow in tears shall reap for joy;
No precious seed shall be destroyed,
Nor long the weeping exiles roam,
But bring their sheaves rejoicing home.

Source: Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship #120

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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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