The Pool of Bethesda

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Beside the gospel pool

Author: John Newton
Published in 155 hymnals

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Piano/Organ
	Just As I Am

Representative Text

1 Beside the gospel pool,
Appointed for the poor,
From time to time my helpless soul,
Has waited for a cure.

2 But whither can I go?
There is no other pool,
Where streams of sov’reign virtue flow,
To make a sinner whole.

Source: The Sacred Harp: the best collection of sacred songs, hymns, odes, and anthems ever offered the singing public for general use (1991 rev.) #34a

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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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