Born: December 19, 1808, Old Broughton, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Died: July 31, 1889, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Buried: Canongate churchyard.
Bonar has been called “the prince of Scottish hymn writers.” After graduating from the University of Edinburgh, he was ordained in 1838, and became pastor of the North Parish, Kelso. He joined the Free Church of Scotland after the “Disruption” of 1843, and for a while edited the church’s The Border Watch. Bonar remained in Kelso for 28 years, after which he moved to the Chalmers Memorial church in Edinburgh, where he served the rest of his life. Bonar wrote more than 600 hymns. At a memorial service following his death, his friend, Rev. E. H. Lundie, said:
His hymns were written in very varied circumstances, sometimes
timed by the tinkling brook that babbled near him; sometimes
attuned to the ordered tramp of the ocean, whose crested
waves broke on the beach by which he wandered; sometimes set
to the rude music of the railway train that hurried him
to the scene of duty; sometimes measured by the silent
rhythm of the midnight stars that shone above him.
Bonar’s works include:
Hymns of Faith and Hope, 1857
Hymns
Almighty Comforter and Friend
All That I Was
Angel Voices, Sweetly Singing
Ascend, Beloved, to the Joy
Bathed in Unfallen Sunlight
Fresh from the Throne of Glory
Be Brave, My Brother
Be Still, My Soul, Jehovah Loveth Thee
Bear Thou My Burden
Beloved, Let Us Love
Beyond the Smiling and the Weeping
Blessed Be God, Our God
Blessèd Night, When First That Plain
Blessing and Honor and Glory and Power
Brethren, Arise, Let us Go Hence
Bridegroom Comes, The
By the Cross of Jesus Standing
Calm Me, My God
Christ Has Done the Mighty Work
Church Has Waited Long, The
Come, Lord, and Tarry Not
Come, Mighty Spirit, Penetrate
Cross, It Standeth Fast, The
Deep Down Beneath the Unresting Surge
Done Is the Work That Saves
Everlasting Praises
Far Down the Ages Now
Father, Make Use of Me
Father, Our Children Keep
Fear Not the Foe, Thou Flock of God
Few More Years Shall Roll, A
Fill Thou My Life
Finish Thy Work, the Time Is Short
For Lack of Love I Languish
For the Bread and for the Wine
For Thee We Long and Pray
Free One Makes You Free, The
From the Cross the Blood Is Falling
From This Bleak Hill of Storms
Glory Be to God the Father
Glory Be to Him Who Loved Us
Go, Labor On: Spend, and Be Spent
Go Up, Go Up, My Heart
Great Ruler of the Land and Sea
He Called Them, and They Left
He Has Come, the Christ of God
He Is Near (I Know Not When the Lord Will Come)
He Liveth Long Who Liveth Well
Help Me, My God, to Speak
Here, O My Lord, I See Thee
Here Shall Death’s Triumph End
Holy Father, Hear My Cry
Holy Father, Mighty God
Ho, Ye Thirsty, Parched and Fainting
How Are My Troubles Multiplied
How Sweetly Doth He Show His Face
I Ask a Perfect Creed
I Close My Heavy Eye
I Hear the Words of Love
I Heard the Voice of Jesus Say
I Lay My Sins on Jesus
I See the Crowd in Pilate’s Hall
I Thought upon My Sins
I Was a Wandering Sheep
I Weep, but Do Not Yield
Jesus, My Sorrow Lies Too Deep
Jesus, Sun and Shield Art Thou
Jesus the Christ of God
Jesus, While This Rough Desert Soil
Jesus, Whom Angel Hosts Adore
Let There Be Light, Jehovah Said
Lie Down, Frail Body, Here
Light Hath Arisen, The
Light of Life So Softly Shining
Light of the World! Forever, Ever Shining
Lo, God, Our God, Has Come
Long, Long Deferred, Now Come at Last
Lord, Give Me Light to Do Thy Work
Make Haste, O Man, to Live
Make Use of Me, My God
Master’s Touch, The
Nay, ’Tis Not What We Fancied It
No Blood, No Altar, Now
No, Not Despairingly
No Seas Again Shall Ever Sever
No Shadows Yonder
Not to Ourselves Again
Not What I Am, O Lord
Not What These Hands Have Done
I Bless the Christ of God
Not What My Hands Have Done
Not with the Light and Vain
Now in Parting, Father, Bless Us
O Everlasting Light
O Light of Light, Shine In
O Love Invisible, Yet Infinite
O Love of God, How Strong and True
O Love That Casts Out Fear
O Strong to Save and Bless
O This Soul, How Dark and Blind
O ’Tis Not What We Fancied It
On the Great Love of God I Lean
On Thee, O Jesus, Strongly Leaning
Oppressed with Noonday’s Scorching Heat
Peace to the World
Peace upon Peace, Like Wave on Wave
Rejoice and Be Glad!
Rest for the Toiling Hand
Safe Across the Waters
Shall This Life of Mine Be Wasted?
Silent, like Men in Solemn Haste
Sinful Man Am I, A
Sing Them, My Children
Soon Shall the Trump of God
Sounds the Trumpet from Afar
Sower Divine, Sow the Good Seed in Me
Speak, Lips of Mine
Speaketh the Sinner’s Sin within my Heart
Spirit of Everlasting Grace
Still One in Life and One in Death
Surely, Yon Heaven, Where Angels See God’s Face
That City with the Jeweled Crest
That Clime Is Not Like This Dull Clime of Ours
Thee in the Loving Bloom of Morn
There Is a Morning Star, My Soul
These Are the Crowns That We Shall Wear
This Is Not My Place of Resting
This Is the Day of Toil
Through Good Report and Evil, Lord
Thy Thoughts Are Here, My God
Thy Way, Not Mine, O Lord
Thy Works, Not Mine, O Christ
Till the Day Dawn
Time’s Sun is Fast Setting
To Him Who Spread the Skies
To Jehovah, God of Might
To the Name of God on High
Trustingly, Trustingly
Tomb Is Empty, The
Unto th’Eternal Hills
Upward Where the Stars Are Burning
We Take the Peace Which He Hath Won
Weep, Pilgrim, Weep
When the Weary, Seeking Rest
Where the Faded Flower Shall Freshen
Yes, for Me He Careth
Yet There Is Room
Source: http://www.cyberhymnal.org/bio/b/o/n/bonar_h.html
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