If Paul in Caesar's court must stand

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If Paul in Caesar's court must stand

Author: John Newton
Published in 19 hymnals

Representative Text

1 If Paul in Cæsar's court must stand,
He need not fear the sea;
Secured from harm, on every hand,
By the divine decree.

2 Although the ship wherein he sailed,
By dreadful storms was tossed;
The promise over all prevailed,
And not a life was lost.

3 Jesus! the God whom Paul adored,
Who saves in time of need;
Was then confessed by all on board,
A present help indeed!

4 Though neither sun nor stars were seen
Paul knew the Lord was near;
And faith preserved his soul serene,
When others shook with fear.

5 Believers thus are tossed about
On life's tempestuous main;
But grace assures beyond a doubt
They shall their port attain.

6 They must, they shall appear one day,
Before their Savior's throne;
The storms they meet with by the way,
But make his power known.

7 Their passage lies across the brink
Of many a threatening wave;
The world expects to see them sink,
But Jesus lives to save.

8 Lord, though we are but feeble worms,
Yet since thy word is past;
We'll venture through a thousand storms,
To see thy face at last.

The Christian's duty, exhibited in a series of hymns, 1791

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Author: John Newton

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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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	If Paul in Caesar's court must stand
Author:	John Newton
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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If Paul in Caesar's court must stand. J. Newton. [St. Paul's Voyage.] Given in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Bk. i., No. 125, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines. It is not usually found in common use in its full form. A part of the hymn beginning with stanza v., "Believers now are tossed about," was given in the Edinburgh Hymns for the Tabernacles, 1800, and in Dr. Alexander's Augustine Hymn Book, 1849 and 1865.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)