People of the living God

People of the living God, I have sought the world around

Author: James Montgomery
Published in 323 hymnals

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Representative Text

People of the living God,
I have sought the world around,
Paths of sin and sorrow trod,
Peace and comfort nowhere found.
Now to you my spirit turns,
Turns, a fugitive unbless'd;
Brethren, where your altar burns,
O receive me into rest!

Lonely I no longer roam,
Like the cloud, the wind, the wave;
Where you dwell shall be my home,
Where you die shall be my grave;
Mine the God whom you adore,
Your Redeemer shall be mine;
Earth can fill my heart no more,
Every idol I resign.

Tell me not of gain or loss,
Ease, enjoyment, pomp, and power,
Welcome poverty and cross,
Shame, reproach, affliction's hour:
"Follow me!"--I know the voice;
Jesus, Lord, Thy steps I see;
Now I take Thy yoke by choice,
Light Thy burden now to me.

Sacred Poems and Hymns, 1854

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: People of the living God, I have sought the world around
Title: People of the living God
Author: James Montgomery
Meter: 7.7.7.7 D
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

People of the living God. J. Montgomery. [On Turning to God.] In Hatfield's Poets of the Church, N.Y., 1884, p. 440, the author says, “At the close of 1814, he[Montgomery] was publicly recognised, at Fulneck, as a brother in the Lord, and a member of the [Moravian] Society. It was in all probability on this occasion that he wrote his beautiful and popular hymn beginning with ‘People of the living God.'" This uncertainty in Hatfield's work becomes certainty in S. W. Duffield's English Hymns, N. Y., 1886, p. 455, where he says, "This hymn describes Montgomery's feelings at the prospect of being readmitted to the Moravian communion at Fulneck, November 4th, 1814." In Holland's Memoirs of Montgomery, published in 1854, the full details of Montgomery's application to the Moravian community at Fulneck, the consent of the authorities there, and his admission in Dec., 1814, are given, but neither there nor elsewhere in the Memoir is any reference made to this hymn. The original manuscript is not amongst the M. MSS., nor is there anything at our command which can fix the date of its appearance until 1819, when it was included in Cotterill’s Selections as No. 160, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines, and headed, “Choosing the portion of God's heritage." Although therefore we cannot say positively, with Duffield, that it was written at the period when Montgomery joined the Moravians at Fulneck, in Dec, 1814, yet we are prepared to admit with Hatfield that it was in all probability written at that time. The text was repeated from Cotterill’s Selections in Montgomery's Christian Psalmist, 1825, No. 466, and in his Original Hymns, 1853, No. 51. The use of this hymn is extensive.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

ENNIUS

From The Presbyterian Psalmodist (1852), edited by Thomas Hastings.

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Instances

Instances (1 - 100 of 323)
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A Collection of Hymns #25

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A Collection of Hymns and a Liturgy #597

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A Collection of Hymns and Sacred Songs #501

A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social and Domestic Worship #d682

A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social and Domestic Worship #d685

A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social, and Domestic Worship #d685

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A Collection of Hymns for Public, Social, and Domestic Worship #884

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A Collection of Hymns, for the use of the United Brethren in Christ #357

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A Collection of Hymns #341

A Collection of Psalms and Hymns Suited to the Various Occasions of Public Worship #d260

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A Collection of Psalms and Hymns #A58

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A Collection of Spiritual Hymns #817

A New and Choice Selection of Hymns for Social Worship and Pravate Devotion #d78

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A New Selection of Psalms, Hymns and Spiritual Songs #982

A Prayer Meeting and Revival Hymn Book . 27th ed. #d381

A Selection of Hymns, from Various Authors #d307

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A Selection of Hymns #33

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A Selection of Spiritual Songs #837

Additional Hymns, Designed as a Supplement to Dwight's Psalms & Hymns #d148

Appendix to Mennonite Hymn Book #d36

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Baptist Chorals #363

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Baptist Hymn Book #a630

Beautiful Songs of Zion, a Collection of New and Old Songs #d124

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Book of Worship (Rev. ed.) #212

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Book of Worship #212

Calvary Selection of Spiritual Songs with Music for the Church and the Choir #d729

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Carmina Sanctorum, a selection of hymns and songs of praise with tunes #568

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Carmina Sanctorum #568

Chapel Hymns #d448

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Chapel Hymns #92

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Christian Hymnal (Rev. ed.) #155

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Christian Hymns for Public and Private Worship #349

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Christian Praise #495

Christian Psalms and Hymns to Aid in Public and Private Devotion #d733

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Church Harmonies #754

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Church Hymnal, Mennonite #343

Church Hymnal, Mennonite #343

Church Hymnal, Mennonite #d435

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Church Melodies #16

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Church music #336

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Church Pastorals, hymns and tunes for public and social worship #420

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Church Poetry #248a

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Church Psalmist #302

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Church Psalmist #302

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Church Psalmist #302

Collection of Hymns for Public and Private Worship. 4th ed. #d228

Companion of Praise for the Sunday School, Family and Prayer Meeting #d164

Compilation of Hymns for the Use of the Churches of the Christian Union #d574

Conference Hymns for Social Worship. 8th ed. #d104

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Coronation Hymns and Songs #115

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Crowning Day No. 5 #129

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Deutsches Lieder- und Melodienbuch #a441

Echoes of Heaven #d70

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Evangelical Hymns #267

Evangelical Musick #d65

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Evangelical Musick #203b

Gleanings of Praise #d157

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Gloria Deo #320

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Good-Will Songs #108

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Gospel Hymn and Tune Book #385

Gospel Hymns #d437

Gospel Melodies #d131

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Hymn and Tune Book for Use in Old School or Primitive Baptist Churches #441

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Hymn and Tune Book of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South (Round Note Ed.) #749

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Hymn and Tune Book, for the Church and the Home #491

Hymn Book of the Colored M.E. Church in America #d425

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Hymn Book of the Methodist Episcopal Church, South #749

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Hymn Book of the Methodist Protestant Church #204

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Hymn Book of the Methodist Protestant Church. (11th ed.) #204

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Hymn Book of the Methodist Protestant Church. (2nd ed.) #464

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Hymn book of the Methodist Protestant Church. (4th ed.) #464

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Hymnal of the Presbyterian Church #390

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Hymns additional to the Hymns in the Prayer Book #272

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Hymns and Songs for Social and Sabbath Worship #492

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Hymns and Songs for Social and Sabbath Worship. (Rev. ed.) #492

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Hymns and Songs of Praise for Public and Social Worship #878

Hymns and Spiritual Songs #d301

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Hymns and Tunes #441

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Hymns for Christian Devotion #660

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Hymns for Christian Devotion #660

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Hymns for Christian Melody #318

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Hymns for Church and Home #26

Hymns for Schools and Families #d391

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Hymns for Social Worship #167

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Hymns for the Camp. (3rd ed. rev. and enl.) #119

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Hymns for the Church of Christ (3rd thousand) #374

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Hymns for the Church of Christ. (6th thousand) #374

Pages

Exclude 320 pre-1979 instances
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