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
• Heavenward, with Lu­cy Ben­nett (Lon­don: Cas­tell Bro­thers, 1886)
• My Re­deem­er Liv­eth, with Lu­cy Ben­nett (Lon­don: Cas­tell Bro­thers, 1887)
• Near and Far, with Lu­cy Ben­nett (Lon­don: Cas­tell Brot­hers, 1889)

• Bailey, pp. 451-55
• Brown, pp. 225-26
• Hatfield, pp. 82-84
• Julian, pp. 161-62, 1614
• Robinson, pp. 29-30
• Ryden, pp. 399-402
• Stulken, p. 257

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
   • Fresh from the Throne of Glo­ry
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. Deep Down Be­neath the Un­rest­ing Surge
23. Done Is the Work That Saves
24. Everlasting Prais­es
25. Far Down the Ag­es Now
26. Father, Make Use of Me
27. Father, Our Child­ren Keep
28. Fear Not the Foe, Thou Flock of God
29. Few More Years Shall Roll, A
30. Fill Thou My Life
31. Finish Thy Work, the Time Is Short
32. For Lack of Love I Lang­uish
33. For the Bread and for the Wine
34. For Thee We Long and Pray
35. Free One Makes You Free, The
36. From the Cross the Blood Is Fall­ing
37. From This Bleak Hill of Storms
38. Glory Be to God the Fa­ther
    • Glory Be to Him Who Loved Us
39. Go, La­bor On: Spend, and Be Spent
40. Go Up, Go Up, My Heart
41. Great Rul­er of the Land and Sea
42. Hallelujah for the Cross!
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. Mind at Per­fect Peace with God, A
82. Morning, the Bright and the Beau­ti­ful Morn­ing, The
83. Nay, ’Tis Not What We Fan­cied It
    • O ’Tis Not What We Fan­cied It
84. No Blood, No Al­tar, Now
85. No, Not De­spair­ing­ly
86. No Seas Again Shall Ev­er Se­ver
87. No Sha­dows Yon­der
88. Not to Our­selves Again
89. Not What I Am, O Lord
90. Not What These Hands Have Done
    • I Bless the Christ of God
    • Not What My Hands Have Done
91. Not with the Light and Vain
92. Now in Part­ing, Fa­ther, Bless Us
93. O Ev­er­last­ing Light
94. O Light of Light, Shine In
95. O Love In­vi­si­ble, Yet In­fi­nite
96. O Love of God, How Strong and True
97. O Love That Casts Out Fear
98. O Strong to Save and Bless
99. O This Soul, How Dark and Blind
100. On the Great Love of God I Lean
101. On Thee, O Je­sus, Strong­ly Lean­ing
102. Only Re­mem­bered
103. Oppressed with Noon­day’s Scorch­ing Heat
104. Peace to the World
105. Peace up­on Peace, Like Wave on Wave
106. Pray, Breth­ren, Pray
107. Rejoice and Be Glad!
108. Rest for the Toil­ing Hand
109. Safe Across the Wa­ters
110. Shall This Life of Mine Be Wast­ed?
111. Silent, Like Men in Sol­emn Haste
112. Sinful Man Am I, A
113. Sing Them, My Child­ren
114. Soon Shall the Trump of God
115. Sounds the Trum­pet from Afar
116. Sower Di­vine, Sow the Good Seed in Me
117. Speak, Lips of Mine
118. Speaketh the Sin­ner’s Sin With­in My Heart
119. Spirit of Ev­er­last­ing Grace
120. Still One in Life and One in Death
121. Surely, Yon Hea­ven, Where An­gels See God’s Face
122. That Ci­ty with the Jew­eled Crest
123. That Clime Is Not Like This Dull Clime of Ours
124. Thee in the Lov­ing Bloom of Morn
125. There Is a Morn­ing Star, My Soul
126. These Are the Crowns That We Shall Wear
127. This Is Not My Place of Rest­ing
128. This Is the Day of Toil
129. Through Good Re­port and Evil, Lord
130. Thy Thoughts Are Here, My God
131. Thy Way, Not Mine, O Lord
132. Thy Works, Not Mine, O Christ
133. Till the Day Dawn
134. Time’s Sun Is Fast Se­tting
135. To Him Who Spread the Skies
136. To Je­ho­vah, God of Might
137. To the Name of God on High
138. Trustingly, Trust­ing­ly
139. Tomb Is Emp­ty, The
140. Unto th’Eter­nal Hills
141. Upward Where the Stars Are Burn­ing
142. We Take the Peace Which He Hath Won
143. Weep, Pil­grim, Weep
144. Welcome! Wan­der­er, Wel­come!
145. When the Wea­ry, Seek­ing Rest
146. Where the Fad­ed Flow­er Shall Fresh­en
147. Yes, for Me He Car­eth
148. Yet There Is Room