James Montgomery (1771-1854), a Scottish...
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James Montgomery (1771-1854), a Scottish Moravian, reflected the rich heritage of Moravian hymn writing. He started writing poetry at an early age. Later, as an adult he found his calling as an editor of a newspaper he named Iris. For more than thirty years he made his newspaper an instrument of social reform, fighting the causes of young chimney sweeps at home and black slaves abroad. All during this time his inner creative spirit expressed itself in writing no less than 400 hymns, several of which are still found in most hymnbooks today. One of his greatest hymns based upon the Christmas story first was published in his newspaper on Christmas Eve, 1816. We would never know from the joyful words of this hymn that the author had become blind two years before the hymn was written.
Angels, from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o'er all the earth;
He, who sang creation's story,
Now proclaim Messiah's birth:
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
Such is the power of Luke's story of the birth of Jesus to inspire the faithful in any age. -- Hasler
Angels, from the realms of glory,
Wing your flight o'er all the earth;
He, who sang creation's story,
Now proclaim Messiah's birth:
Come and worship, come and worship,
Worship Christ the new-born King.
Such is the power of Luke's story of the birth of Jesus to inspire the faithful in any age. -- Hasler
