When Montgomery was five years old, his fam­i­ly moved to the Mo­rav­i­an set­tle­ment at Grace­hill, near Bal­ly­mena, Coun­ty An­trim. Two years lat­er, he was sent to the Ful­neck Sem­in­ary in York­shire. He left Ful­neck in 1787 to work in a shop in Mir­field, near Wake­field. Soon tir­ing of that, he se­cured a sim­i­lar po­si­tion at Wath, near Rother­ham, on­ly to find it as un­suit­a­ble as his pre­vi­ous job. A trip to Lon­don, hop­ing to find a pub­lish­er for his youth­ful po­ems, end­ed in fail­ure. In 1792, he glad­ly left Wath for Shef­field to be as­sist­ant to Mr. Gales, auc­tion­eer, book­sel­ler, and print­er of the Shef­field Reg­is­ter. In 1794, Gales left Eng­land to avoid po­lit­ic­al pro­se­cu­tion. Mont­gom­ery took the Shef­field Reg­is­ter in hand, changed its name to the Shef­field Iris, and con­tin­ued to ed­it it for 32 years. Dur­ing the next two years he was im­pris­oned twice, first for re­print­ing a song in com­mem­or­a­tion of the fall of the Bas­tille, then for giv­ing an ac­count of a ri­ot in Shef­field.

The ed­it­ing of his pa­per, the com­po­si­tion and pub­li­ca­tion of his po­ems and hymns, the de­liv­ery of lec­tures on po­e­try in Shef­field and at the Roy­al In­sti­tu­tion, Lon­don, and the ad­vo­ca­cy of for­eign mis­sions and the Bi­ble So­ci­e­ty, gave great va­ri­e­ty, but very lit­tle of stir­ring in­ci­dent in his life, though he did find time to write 400 hymns. In 1833, Mont­gom­ery re­ceived a roy­al pen­sion of £200 per year. His works in­clude:

• Prison Amuse­ments, 1797
• The Wanderer of Switz­er­land, 1806
• The West In­dies, 1807
• The World Be­fore the Flood, 1813
• Greenland and Other Po­ems, 1819
• Songs of Zi­on, 1822
• The Christ­ian Psalm­ist, 1825
• The Christ­ian Po­et, 1825
• The Pel­i­can Is­land, 1828
• The Poet’s Port­fo­lio, 1835
• Original Hymns for Pub­lic, Pri­vate and So­cial De­vo­tion, 1853

Sources

Lyrics

1. According to Thy Gra­cious Word
2. Angels from the Realm of Glo­ry
3. Be Known to Us in Break­ing Bread
   • Shepherd of Souls, Refresh and Bless
4. Be Joyful in God
5. Behold the Book Whose Leaves Display
6. Behold Yon Bright Array
7. Bright and Joy­ful Is the Morn
8. Call Je­ho­vah Thy Sal­va­tion
9. Christ­ian Warrior, See Him Stand, The
   • Behold! The Christian Warrior Stand
10. Come, Let Us Sing the Song of Songs
11. Come to Cal­va­ry’s Ho­ly Mount­ain
12. Come Ye That Fear the Lord
13. Daughter of Zi­on, from the Dust
14. Days and Years of Time Are Fled, The
15. Fall Down, Ye Na­tions, and Adore
16. Food, Raiment, Dwelling, Health and Friends
17. Forever with the Lord
18. Friend After Friend Departs
19. Give Glory to God in the High­est
20. Glad Was My Heart to Hear
21. Glorious Universe Around, The
22. Glory to the Father Give
23. Go to Dark Geth­sem­a­ne
24. Go Where a Foot Hath Never Trod
25. God Be Merciful to Me
26. God in the High and Ho­ly Place
27. God Is My Strong Sal­va­tion
28. God Is Our Re­fuge and De­fense
29. God of Na­ture and of Grace, The
30. Green Pastures and Clear Streams
31. Hail to the Lord’s Anoint­ed
32. Hark! The Song of Ju­bi­lee
33. Hasten, Lord, to My Re­lease
34. Have Mercy on Me, O My God
35. Hear Me, O Lord, in My Dis­tress
36. Hearken, Lord, to My Com­plaints
37. Heaven Is a Place of Rest from Sin
38. Heralds of Crea­tion Cry
39. Ho­ly, Ho­ly, Ho­ly Lord God of Hosts
40. Home, Kindred, Friends, and Coun­try, These
41. Hosanna! Be the Children’s Song
42. How Beau­ti­ful the Sight
43. How Precious Are Thy Thoughts of Peace
44. I Cried unto the Lord Most Just
45. I Love the Lord, He Lent an Ear
46. In the Hour of Tr­ial
47. In Time of Tri­bu­la­tion
48. Jehovah Is Great, and Great His Praise
49. Jesus, Our Best Beloved Friend
50. Judge Me, O Lord, in Right­eous­ness
51. Less Than the Least of All
52. Let Me Go, the Day Is Break­ing
53. Lift Up Your Heads, Ye Gates of Brass
54. Lord, Forever at Thy Side
55. Lord God, the Ho­ly Ghost
56. Lord Is King; Upon His Throne, The
57. Lord Is My Shep­herd, The
58. Lord, Let Me Know Mine End
59. Lord, Let My Pray­er Like In­cense Rise
60. Lord, Pour Thy Spir­it from on High
61. Lord, Teach Us How to Pray Aright
62. Not Here, as to the Pro­phet’s Eye
63. Not in Jerusalem Alone
64. Not to the Mount That Burned with Fire
65. O Bless the Lord, My Soul
66. O God, Thou Art My God Alone
67. O Lord, Our King, How Excellent
68. O My Soul, with All Thy Powers
69. O Spirit of the Liv­ing God
70. O Where Shall Rest Be Found?
71. Of Old, O God, Thine Own Right Hand
72. On the First Christ­ian Sab­bath Eve
73. One Pray­er I Have
74. One Thing with All My Soul’s Desire
75. Our Heavenly Father Hear
76. Out of the Depths of Woe
77. Palms of Glo­ry
78. People of the Liv­ing God
79. Poor Wayfaring Man of Grief, A
80. Pour Out Thy Spirit from on High
81. Praise the Lord Through Ev­ery Na­tion
82. Pray­er Is the Soul’s Sin­cere De­sire
83. Pure and Peaceful Mind, The
84. Return, My Soul, unto Thy Rest
85. Searcher of Hearts, to Thee Are Known
86. Servant of God, Well Done!
87. Servants of God, in Joy­ful Lays
88. Sing We the Song
89. Songs of Praise the An­gels Sang
90. Sow in the Morn Thy Seed
91. Spirit of Power and Might, Behold
    • Almighty Spir­it, Now Be­hold
92. Stand Up and Bless the Lord
93. Tempter to My Soul Hath Said, The
94. Thank and Praise Je­ho­vah’s Name
95. Thee Will I Praise, O Lord in Light
96. There Is a Calm for Those Who Weep
97. This Is the Day the Lord Hath Made
98. This Stone to Thee in Faith We Lay
99. Thrice Hap­py He Who Shuns the Way
100. Thy Glo­ry, Lord, the Heav­ens Declare
101. Thy Law Is Per­fect, Lord of Light
102. Thy Word, Almighty Lord
103. To Thy Tem­ple I Re­pair
104. We Bid Thee Wel­come in the Name
105. What Are These in Bright Array?
106. What Is the Thing of Great­est Price?
107. What Secret Hand at Morn­ing Light
108. When J­esus Left His Fa­ther’s Throne
109. When on Sinai’s Top I See
110. Where Are the Dead?
111. While Through This Chang­ing World We Roam
112. Who Make the Lord of Hosts Their Tow­er
113. Within These Walls Be Peace
114. World in Con­dem­na­tion Lay, The
115. Yes, I Will Ex­tol Thee