1 Begone, unbelief,
My Saviour is near,
And for my relief
Will surely appear;
By prayer let me wrestle,
And he will perform;
With Christ in the vessel,
I smile at the storm.
2 Though dark be my way,
Since he is my guide,
‘Tis mine to obey,
‘Tis his to provide;
Though cisterns be broken
And creatures all fail,
The word he has spoken
Will surely prevail.
3 His love in time past
Forbids me to think
He’ll leave me at last
In trouble to sink;
Each sweet Ebenezer
I have in review
Confirms his good pleasure
To help me quite through.
4 Since all that I meet
Shall work for my good,
The bitter is sweet,
The medicine food;
Though painful at present,
‘Twill cease before long,
And then O how pleasant
The conqueror’s song!
Source: The Song Book of the Salvation Army #712
John Newton (b. London, England, 1725; d. London, 1807) was born into a Christian home, but his godly mother died when he was seven, and he joined his father at sea when he was eleven. His licentious and tumultuous sailing life included a flogging for attempted desertion from the Royal Navy and captivity by a slave trader in West Africa. After his escape he himself became the captain of a slave ship. Several factors contributed to Newton's conversion: a near-drowning in 1748, the piety of his friend Mary Catlett, (whom he married in 1750), and his reading of Thomas à Kempis' Imitation of Christ. In 1754 he gave up the slave trade and, in association with William Wilberforce, eventually became an ardent abolitionist. After becoming a tide… Go to person page >
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