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:

Sources

Lyrics

  1. Almighty Com­forter and Friend
  2. All That I Was
  3. Angel Voic­es, Sweet­ly Sing­ing
  4. Ascend, Be­loved, to the Joy
  5. Bathed in Un­fall­en Sun­light
  6. Be Brave, My Bro­ther
  7. Be Still, My Soul, Je­ho­vah Lo­veth Thee
  8. Bear Thou My Bur­den
  9. Beloved, Let Us Love
  10. Beyond the Smil­ing and the Weep­ing
  11. Blessed Be God, Our God
  12. Blessèd Night, When First That Plain
  13. Blessing and Hon­or and Glo­ry and Pow­er
  14. Brethren, Arise, Let us Go Hence
  15. Bridegroom Comes, The
  16. By the Cross of Je­sus Stand­ing
  17. Calm Me, My God
  18. Christ Has Done the Mighty Work
  19. Church Has Wait­ed Long, The
  20. Come, Lord, and Tar­ry Not
  21. Come, Mighty Spir­it, Pen­e­trate
  22. Cross, It Stand­eth Fast, The
  23. Deep Down Beneath the Un­rest­ing Surge
  24. Done Is the Work That Saves
  25. Everlasting Prais­es
  26. Far Down the Ag­es Now
  27. Father, Make Use of Me
  28. Father, Our Child­ren Keep
  29. Fear Not the Foe, Thou Flock of God
  30. Few More Years Shall Roll, A
  31. Fill Thou My Life
  32. Finish Thy Work, the Time Is Short
  33. For Lack of Love I Lang­uish
  34. For the Bread and for the Wine
  35. For Thee We Long and Pray
  36. Free One Makes You Free, The
  37. From the Cross the Blood Is Fall­ing
  38. From This Bleak Hill of Storms
  39. Glory Be to God the Fa­ther
  40. Go, La­bor On: Spend, and Be Spent
  41. Go Up, Go Up, My Heart
  42. Great Ruler of the Land and Sea
  43. He Called Them, and They Left
  44. He Has Come, the Christ of God
  45. He Is Near (I Know Not When the Lord Will Come)
  46. He Liv­eth Long Who Liv­eth Well
  47. Help Me, My God, to Speak
  48. Here, O My Lord, I See Thee
  49. Here Shall Death’s Tri­umph End
  50. Holy Fa­ther, Hear My Cry
  51. Holy Fa­ther, Mighty God
  52. Ho, Ye Thirsty, Parched and Faint­ing
  53. How Are My Trou­bles Mul­ti­plied
  54. How Sweet­ly Doth He Show His Face
  55. I Ask a Per­fect Creed
  56. I Close My Hea­vy Eye
  57. I Hear the Words of Love
  58. I Heard the Voice of Je­sus Say
  59. I Lay My Sins on Je­sus
  60. I See the Crowd in Pi­late’s Hall
  61. I Shall Be Sa­tis­fied
  62. I Thought upon My Sins
  63. I Was a Wan­der­ing Sheep
  64. I Weep, but Do Not Yield
  65. Jesus, My Sor­row Lies Too Deep
  66. Jesus, Sun and Shield Art Thou
  67. Jesus the Christ of God
  68. Jesus, While This Rough De­sert Soil
  69. Jesus, Whom An­gel Hosts Adore
  70. Let There Be Light, Je­ho­vah Said
  71. Lie Down, Frail Bo­dy, Here
  72. Light Hath Aris­en, The
  73. Light of Life So Softly Shin­ing
  74. Light of the World! For­ev­er, Ev­er Shin­ing
  75. Lo, God, Our God, Has Come
  76. Long, Long De­ferred, Now Come at Last
  77. Lord, Give Me Light to Do Thy Work
  78. Make Haste, O Man, to Live
  79. Make Use of Me, My God
  80. Master’s Touch, The
  81. Morning, the Bright and the Beau­ti­ful Morn­ing, The
  82. Nay, ’Tis Not What We Fan­cied It
  83. No Blood, No Al­tar, Now
  84. No, Not De­spair­ing­ly
  85. No Seas Again Shall Ev­er Se­ver
  86. No Sha­dows Yon­der
  87. Not to Our­selves Again
  88. Not What I Am, O Lord
  89. Not What These Hands Have Done
  90. Not with the Light and Vain
  91. Now in Part­ing, Fa­ther, Bless Us
  92. O Ev­er­last­ing Light
  93. O Light of Light, Shine In
  94. O Love In­vi­si­ble, Yet In­fi­nite
  95. O Love of God, How Strong and True
  96. O Love That Casts Out Fear
  97. O Strong to Save and Bless
  98. O This Soul, How Dark and Blind
  99. On the Great Love of God I Lean
  100. On Thee, O Je­sus, Strong­ly Lean­ing
  101. Only Re­mem­bered
  102. Oppressed with Noon­day’s Scorch­ing Heat
  103. Peace to the World
  104. Peace up­on Peace, Like Wave on Wave
  105. Pray, Breth­ren, Pray
  106. Rejoice and Be Glad!
  107. Rest for the Toil­ing Hand
  108. Safe Across the Wa­ters
  109. Shall This Life of Mine Be Wast­ed?
  110. Silent, like Men in Sol­emn Haste
  111. Sinful Man Am I, A
  112. Sing Them, My Child­ren
  113. Soon Shall the Trump of God
  114. Sounds the Trum­pet from Afar
  115. Sower Di­vine, Sow the Good Seed in Me
  116. Speak, Lips of Mine
  117. Speaketh the Sin­ner’s Sin with­in my Heart
  118. Spirit of Ev­er­last­ing Grace
  119. Still One in Life and One in Death
  120. Surely, Yon Hea­ven, Where An­gels See God’s Face
  121. That City with the Jew­eled Crest
  122. That Clime Is Not Like This Dull Clime of Ours
  123. Thee in the Lov­ing Bloom of Morn
  124. There Is a Morn­ing Star, My Soul
  125. These Are the Crowns That We Shall Wear
  126. This Is Not My Place of Rest­ing
  127. This Is the Day of Toil
  128. Through Good Re­port and Evil, Lord
  129. Thy Thoughts Are Here, My God
  130. Thy Way, Not Mine, O Lord
  131. Thy Works, Not Mine, O Christ
  132. Till the Day Dawn
  133. Time’s Sun is Fast Se­tting
  134. To Him Who Spread the Skies
  135. To Je­ho­vah, God of Might
  136. To the Name of God on High
  137. Trustingly, Trust­ing­ly
  138. Tomb Is Emp­ty, The
  139. Unto th’Eter­nal Hills
  140. Upward Where the Stars Are Burn­ing
  141. We Take the Peace Which He Hath Won
  142. Weep, Pil­grim, Weep
  143. Welcome! Wan­der­er, Wel­come!
  144. When the Wea­ry, Seek­ing Rest
  145. Where the Fad­ed Flow­er Shall Fresh­en
  146. Yes, for Me He Car­eth
  147. Yet There Is Room