Thanks for being a Hymnary.org user. You are one of more than 10 million people from 200-plus countries around the world who have benefitted from the Hymnary website in 2024! If you feel moved to support our work today with a gift of any amount and a word of encouragement, we would be grateful.

You can donate online at our secure giving site.

Or, if you'd like to make a gift by check, please make it out to CCEL and mail it to:
Christian Classics Ethereal Library, 3201 Burton Street SE, Grand Rapids, MI 49546
And may the promise of Advent be yours this day and always.

Lord, my God, I long to know

Lord, my God, I long to know

Author: John Newton
Published in 15 hymnals

Representative Text

1 Lord, my God, I long to know,
Oft it causes anxious thought,
Do I love Thee, Lord, or no?
Am I Thine, or am I not?

2 Could my heart so hard remain,
Prayer a task and burden prove,
Any duty give pain,
If I knew a Saviour's love?

3 When I turn mine eyes within,
Oh how dark, and vain, and wild!
Prone to unbelief and sin,
Can I deem myself thy child?

4 Yet I mourn my stubborn will,
Find my sin a grief and thrall:
Should I grief for what I feel
If I did not love at all?

5 Could I love thy saints to meet,
Choose the ways I once abhorred,
Find at times the promise sweet,
If I did not love Thee, Lord?

6 Saviour, let me love Thee more,
If I love at all, I pray;
If I have not loved before,
Help me to begin to-day.

Source: The Book of Worship #209

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 >

Text Information

First Line: Lord, my God, I long to know
Author: John Newton
Copyright: Public Domain

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 15 of 15)
Page Scan

A Collection of Psalms and Hymns for Christian Worship. (45th ed.) #671

Page Scan

A Collection of Sacred Song #93(H151)

Page Scan

A Collection of Sacred Song #93(H151)

Page Scan

Hymn and Tune Book, for the Church and the Home #294

Page Scan

Hymns for Public Worship #375

Page Scan

Hymns of the Protestant Episcopal Church of the United States, as authorized by the General Convention #151

Page Scan

Hymns Recommended for use in the Reformed Episcopal Church #225

Page Scan

Selections from the Psalms of David in Metre #H151

Soldier's Prayer Book. Hospitals ed. #d57

Page Scan

Songs of Devotion for Christian Assocations #577

TextPage Scan

The Book of Worship #209

The Church Manual #d4

Page Scan

The Disciples' Hymn Book #81

Page Scan

The Lecture-Room Hymn-Book #H151

Suggestions or corrections? Contact us
It looks like you are using an ad-blocker. Ad revenue helps keep us running. Please consider white-listing Hymnary.org or getting Hymnary Pro to eliminate ads entirely and help support Hymnary.org.