When war on earth suspended
His wild career of woes,
The Prince of Peace descended,
A guiltier strife to close:
Vain battles worms were waging
With their Creator God:
He came, and wrath assuaging,
Made peace with His own blood.
The storm that flamed and lower'd,
Was calm at His command;
The rod of Justice flower'd,
Like Aaron's, in His hand:
That sceptre, love-revealing,
Rebels approach and kiss;
Its leaves are for your healing,
Its fruits--immortal bliss.
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 >
Henry T. Smart (PHH 233) composed the tune in 1835 for use at a missions festival at Blackburn, Lancashire, England. For that festival, which celebrated the three-hundredth anniversary of the Reformation in England, the tune was set to Reginald Heber's (PHH 249) “From Greenland's Icy Mountains.”…
Display Title: When War On Earth SuspendedFirst Line: When war on earth suspendedTune Title: LANCASHIREAuthor: James MontgomeryMeter: 76.76 DSource: The Christian Psalmist (Glasgow, Scotland: Chalmers & Collins, 1825)