Birks at­tend­ed Trin­i­ty Coll­ege at Cam­bridge, where he be­came a Fel­low. He took Ho­ly Or­ders in 1837, then be­came Rec­tor of Kels­hall, Hert­ford­shire, in 1844; Vi­car of Ho­ly Trin­i­ty, Cam­bridge, 1866; Ca­non of Ely Ca­thed­ral, 1871; and Pro­fes­sor of Mor­al Phil­o­so­phy at Cam­bridge, 1872. His 25 works in­clude Bib­li­cal, as­tro­nom­ic­al, sci­en­tif­ic, pro­phe­tic, and other sub­jects. He al­so wrote the Mem­oirs of Rev. E. Bick­er­steth (his fa­ther-in-law), 1851. He wrote about 100 hymns; some ap­peared in Bick­er­steth’s Christ­ian Psalm­o­dy, 1833, others in his Com­pan­ion Psal­ter, 1871.

Sources

Lyrics

1. Except the Lord Do Build the House
2. Heavens Declare Thy Glory, The
3. Lord Himself My Portion Is, The
4. Mighty God, the Lord Hath Spoken, The
5. O Come, Let Us Sing to the Lord
6. O King of Mercy, from Thy Throne on High
7. O Taste and See That He Is Good
8. O When from All the Ends of the Earth
9. Thou Art Gone on High, O Christ
10. Whom Have I Lord in Heaven, but Thee