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.

O 'Tis a Great Change for Me

My boat had once floated away from the shore

Author: Johnson Oatman
Tune: [My boat had once floated away from the shore]
Published in 16 hymnals

Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 My boat had once floated away from the shore,
And I was adrift on life’s wild raging sea;
But now in the lifeboat I’m safe evermore,
And O, ’tis a great change for me!

Refrain:
’Tis a great change for me, a great change for me!
O now I am happy! from sin I’ve been set free!
From out of the darkness I’ve stepped into light,
And O, ’tis a great change for me!

2 My life was once darkened, and fettered by sin,
But now, Hallelujah! by grace I am free!
For all has been changed since God’s light hath shone in,
And O, ’tis a great change for me! [Refrain]

3 No more is my spirit conformed to this world,
But now higher joys every moment I see;
For I have been changed and transformed by His pow’r,
And O, ’tis a great change for me! [Refrain]

4 When I have reached heaven, that home of the soul,
Blest haven that lies over times rolling sea,
I know I will shout when its joys I behold –
“O this is a great change for me!” [Refrain]

Source: Great Revival Hymns No. 2 #39

Author: Johnson Oatman

Johnson Oatman, Jr., son of Johnson and Rachel Ann Oatman, was born near Medford, N. J., April 21, 1856. His father was an excellent singer, and it always delighted the son to sit by his side and hear him sing the songs of the church. Outside of the usual time spent in the public schools, Mr. Oatman received his education at Herbert's Academy, Princetown, N. J., and the New Jersey Collegiate Institute, Bordentown, N. J. At the age of nineteen he joined the M.E. Church, and a few years later he was granted a license to preach the Gospel, and still later he was regularly ordained by Bishop Merrill. However, Mr. Oatman only serves as a local preacher. For many years he was engaged with his father in the mercantile business at Lumberton… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: My boat had once floated away from the shore
Title: O 'Tis a Great Change for Me
Author: Johnson Oatman
Language: English
Refrain First Line: 'Tis a great change for me, a great change for me
Copyright: Public Domain

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 16 of 16)

Diamonds #d124

Echoes from Beulah #d27

Page Scan

Gospel Hosannas #64

Page Scan

Great Revival Hymns #43

TextPage Scan

Great Revival Hymns No. 2 #39

Hymns for His Praise No. 2. Rev. ed. #d102

AudioPage Scan

Make Christ King #29

New Joy in Service Songs No. 5 #d60

Page Scan

Pentecostal Hymns Nos. 5 and 6 Combined #96

Page Scan

Rodeheaver Collection for Male Voices #67

Page Scan

Songs for Service #50

Page Scan

Songs of the Tabernacle #89

Tabernacle Hymns #d46

The Message in Song Nos. 1 & 2 #d125

Page Scan

The Tabernacle Hymns #150

Page Scan

World Wide Revival Songs #41

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.