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
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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