When time seems short and death is near

Representative Text

1. When time seems short, and death is near,
And I am pressed by doubt and fear,
And sins, an overflowing tide,
Assail my peace on every side,
This thought my refuge still shall be,
I know my Savior died for me.

2. His name is Jesus, and He died—
For guilty sinners crucified;
Content to die, that He might win
Their ransom from the death of sin.
No sinner worse than I can be,
Therefore I know He died for me.

3. If grace were bought, I could not buy;
If grace were coined, no wealth have I;
By grace alone I draw my breath,
Held up from everlasting death.
Yet since I know His grace is free,
I know the Savior died for me.

4. I read God’s holy Word, and find
Great truths which far transcend my mind
And little do I know beside
Of thought so high and deep and wide.
This is my best theology—
I know the Savior died for me.

5. My faith is weak, but ’tis Thy gift;
Thou canst my helpless soul uplift,
And say, Thy bonds of death are riv’n,
Thy sins by Me are all forgiv’n,
And thou shalt live, from guilt set free;
For I, thy Savior, died for thee.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #7340

Author: George W. Bethune

Bethune, George Washington, D.D. A very eminent divine of the Reformed Dutch body, born in New York, 1805, graduated at Dickinson Coll., Carlisle, Phila., 1822, and studied theology at Princeton. In 1827 he was appointed Pastor of the Reformed Dutch Church, Rinebeck, New York. In 1830 passed to Utica, in 1834 to Philadelphia, and in 1850 to the Brooklyn Heights, New York. In 1861 he visited Florence, Italy, for his health, and died in that city, almost suddenly after preaching, April 27, 1862. His Life and Letters were edited by A. R. Van Nest, 1867. He was offered the Chancellorship of New York University, and the Provostship of the University of Pennsylvania, both of which he declined. His works include The Fruits of the Spirit, 1839; Ser… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: When time seems short and death is near
Author: George W. Bethune
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

When time seems short and death is near. Death anticipated. This was found in the author's portfolio, and was written on Saturday, April 27th, 1862, the day before his death at Florence (Life, &c, p. 409). It was included in the Lyra Sacra Americana, 1808, and from thence passed into one or two English hymnals.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

RAKEM


SELENA


SOLID ROCK

The Sunday school hymn writer William B. Bradbury (PHH 114) composed SOLID ROCK in 1863 for Edward Mote's "My Hope Is Built on Nothing Less." The tune name derives from that song's refrain: "On Christ, the solid rock, I stand. . . .” Bradbury published SOLID ROCK in his 1864 children's collection…

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The Cyber Hymnal #7340

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