As some tall rock amidst the waves

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As some tall rock amidst the waves

Author: John Newton
Tune: ABBOTSFORD
Published in 5 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, Noteworthy Composer
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 As some tall rock amidst the waves,
The fury of the tempest braves;
While fierce the billows, toiling high,
Break at its foot and murmuring die:

2 Thus they, who in the Lord confide,
Though foes assault on every side;
Cannot be moved or overthrown,
For Jesus makes their cause His own.

3 So faithful Stephen, undismayed,
The malice of the Jews surveyed;
The holy joy which filled his breast
A luster on his face impressed.

4 "Behold!" he said, "the world of light
Is opened to my strengthened sight;
My glorious Lord appears in view,
That Jesus, whom ye lately slew."

5 With such a friend and witness near,
No form of death could make him fear;
Calm, midst the shower of stones, he kneels,
And only for his murderers feels.

6 May we, by faith, perceive Thee thus,
Dear Savior, ever near to us!
This fight, through life, our peace shall keep,
And death be feared no more than sleep.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #8991

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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:	As some tall rock amidst the waves
Author:	John Newton
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

As some tall rock amidst the waves. J. Newton. [St. Stephen.] On "The Death of Stephen," in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, and first published in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Bk. i., No. 120, and repeated, without alteration, in later editions. It was in common use as early as Cotterill's Selection, 1810. It is seldom found in modern collections.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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