Come to Calvary's Holy Mountain

The writer of this favorite, James Montgomery, composed more than 400 hymns, 100 of which are still in common use.

Moravian minister James Montgomery was born at Irvine, Ayrshire, Nov. 4, 1771. He attended the Fulneck Seminary in Yorkshire. He died in his sleep, at the Mount, Sheffield, April 30, 1854. A statue was erected to his memory in the Sheffield General Cemetery, and a stained glass window in the Parish Church. A Wesleyan chapel and a public hall are also named in his honor. Of Montgomery’s 400 hymns (including his versions of the Psalms) more than 100 are still in common use.¹

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Lyrics - “Come to Calvary’s Holy Mountain” by James Montgomery, 1771-1854

   1. Come to Calvary's holy mountain,
   Sinners, ruined by the Fall;
   Here a pure and healing fountain
   Flows to you, to me, to all,
   In a full, perpetual tide,
   Opened when our Savior died.
   
   2. Come in poverty and meanness,
   Come defiled, without, within;
   From infection and uncleanness,
   From the leprosy of sin,
   Wash your robes and make them white;
   Ye shall walk with God in light.
   
   3. Come in sorrow and contrition,
   Wounded, impotent, and blind;
   Here the guilty free remission,
   Here the troubled peace, may find.
   Health this fountain will restore;
   He that drinks shall thirst no more.
   
   4. He that drinks shall live forever;
   Tis a soul-renewing flood.
   God is faithful; God will never
   Break His covenant of blood,
   Signed when our Redeemer died,
   Sealed when He was glorified.
   
   The Lutheran Hymnal
   Hymn #149
   Text: Matt. 11:28
   Author: James Montgomery, 1819
   Composer: Ludvig M. Lindeman, 1871
   Tune: "Consolation"