Oldest son of John Deck of Bu­ry St. Ed­munds, James was ed­u­cat­ed for the ar­my, and be­came an of­fi­cer in the In­di­an ser­vice. Re­tir­ing from the ar­my, and hav­ing joined the Ply­mouth Breth­ren, he un­der­took, in 1843, the charge of a con­gre­ga­tion of that bo­dy at Well­ing­ton, Som­er­set. In 1852, he went abroad and set­tled in New Zea­land. His sis­ter was hym­nist Ma­ry Walk­er. His hymns were pub­lished in:

• Hymns for the Poor of the Flock, 1837-38
• Psalms and Hymns (Lon­don: Wal­ther, 1842)
• Wellington Hymn Book, 1857
• Hymns and Spir­it­u­al Songs, 1860
• Hymns and Sac­red Po­ems (Mel­bourne, Aus­tral­ia: H. Seel­en­mey­er, 1876)

• Julian, pp. 285, 1559

1. Abba, Fa­ther! We Ap­proach Thee
2. Again We Meet in Je­sus’ Name
3. Behold Yon Bright and Count­less Throng
4. Day of Glo­ry, Bear­ing, The
5. Father, to Seek Thy Face
6. Great Cap­tain of Sal­va­tion
7. How Long, O Lord?
8. In Hope We Lift Our Wishf­ul, Long­ing Eyes
9. Jesus Christ, Thy Name In­deed Is Sweet
10. Jesus, Spot­less Lamb of God
11. Jesus, Thy Name I Love
12. Jesus, We Rest in Thee
13. Lamb of God! Our Souls Adore Thee
14. Lamb of God, Thou Now Art Seat­ed
15. Lord Je­sus, Are We One with Thee?
16. Lord Je­sus, When I Think of Thee
17. Lord, We Are Thine, Our God Thou Art
18. O Bless­ed Je­sus, Lamb of God
19. O Hap­py Day When First We Felt
20. O Je­sus Christ, the Sav­ior
21. O Je­sus, Gra­cious Sav­ior
22. O Lamb of God, Still Keep Me
23. O Lord, in No­thing Would I Boast
24. O Lord, ’Tis Joy to Look Above
25. O Lord, When We the Path Re­trace
26. O Lord, Who Now Art Seat­ed
27. Oft We, Alas! For­get the Love
28. Savior, Haste, Our Souls Are Wait­ing
29. Savior! Hast­en Thine Ap­pear­ing
30. Soon Shall Our Mas­ter Come
31. There Is a Place of End­less Joy
32. Thou Hast Stood Here, Lord Je­sus
33. ’Twas Thy Love, O God, That Knew Us
34. Veil Is Rent, The
35. We Bless Our Sav­ior’s Name
36. We’re Not of the World That Fad­eth Away
37. When Along Life’s Thorny Road
38. When First O’er­whelmed with Sin and Shame