The Sabbath

Representative Text

1 God thus commanded Jacob’s seed,
When, from Egyptian-bondage freed,
He led them by the way:
“Remember, with a mighty hand
I brought thee forth from Pharaoh’s land;
Then keep my Sabbath Day.”

2 [In six days God made heaven and earth
Gave all the various creatures birth,
And from his working ceased;
These days to labour he applied;
The seventh he blessed and sanctified.
And called the day of rest.]

3 To all God’s people now remains
A Sabbatism, a rest from pains,
And works of slavish kind;
When tired with toil, and faint through fear,
The child of God can enter here,
And sweet refreshment find.

4 To this, by faith, he oft retreats;
Bondage and labour quite forgets,
And bids his cares adieu;
Slides softly into promised rest,
Reclines his head on Jesus’ breast,
And proves the Sabbath true.

5 [This, and this only, is the way
To rightly keep the Sabbath Day,
Which God has holy made.
All keepers that come short of this,
The substance of the Sabbath miss,
And grasp an empty shade.]

Source: A Selection of Hymns for Public Worship. In four parts (10th ed.) (Gadsby's Hymns) #358

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Author: J. Hart

Hart, Joseph, was born in London in 1712. His early life is involved in obscurity. His education was fairly good; and from the testimony of his brother-in-law, and successor in the ministry in Jewin Street, the Rev. John Hughes, "his civil calling was" for some time "that of a teacher of the learned languages." His early life, according to his own Experience which he prefaced to his Hymns, was a curious mixture of loose conduct, serious conviction of sin, and endeavours after amendment of life, and not until Whitsuntide, 1757, did he realize a permanent change, which was brought about mainly through his attending divine service at the Moravian Chapel, in Fetter Lane, London, and hearing a sermon on Rev. iii. 10. During the next two years ma… Go to person page >

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