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Expostulation

No words can declare

Author: John Newton
Published in 7 hymnals

Representative Text

1 No words can declare,
No fancy can paint,
What rage and despair
What hopeless complaint,
Fill Satan's dark dwelling,
The prison beneath;
What weeping and wailing,
And gnashing of teeth!

2 Yet sinners will choose
This dreadful abode,
Each madly pursues
The dangerous road;
Though God gives them warning,
They onward will go,
They answer the scorning,
And rush upon woe.

3 How sad to behold
The rich and the poor,
The young and the old,
All blindly secure!
All posting to ruin,
Refusing to stop;
Ah! think what you're doing,
While yet there is hope!

4 How weak is your hand,
To fight with the Lord!
How can you withstand
The edge of his sword!
What hope of escaping
For those who oppose,
When hell is wide gaping
To swallow his foes!

5 How oft have you dar'd
The Lord to his face;
Yet still you are spar'd
To hear of his grace;
Oh pray for repentance,
And life-giving faith;
Before the just sentence
Consign you to death.

6 It is not too late
To Jesus to flee,
His mercy is great,
His pardon is free!
His blood has such virtue
For all that believe,
That nothing can hurt you,
If him you receive.

Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the use of Christians, 1803

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: No words can declare
Title: Expostulation
Author: John Newton
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 7 of 7)
Page Scan

A Selection of Hymns from the Best Authors. #A15

A Selection of Hymns, from the Best Authors, Designed as a Supplement to Dr. Watts' Psalms and Hymns #d413

Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the Use of Christians #d96

TextPage Scan

Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the use of Christians #78

Hymns and Spiritual Songs, for the Use of Christians #d70

Revival Hymns. 4th ed. #d77

Page Scan

The Camp-Meeting Chorister #28

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