Humbled and Silenced by Mercy

Representative Text

1 Once perishing in blood I lay,
Creatures no help could give;
But Jesus passed me in the way,
He saw, and bid me live.

2 O, can I e'er that day forget,
When Jesus kindly spoke!
"Poor soul, my blood has paid thy debt,
And now I break thy yoke.

3 "Behold I take thee for my own,
And give myself to thee;
Forsake the idols thou hast known,
And yield thyself to me."

4 Ah worthless heart! it promised fair,
And said it would be thine;
I little thought it e'er would dare,
Again with idols join.

5 Lord, dost thou such back-slidings heal,
And pardon all that's past?
Sure, if I am not made of steel,
I shall relent at last

6 My tongue, which rashly spoke before,
Thy mercy will restrain;
Surely I now shall boast no more,
Nor censure, nor complain.

The Hartford Selection of Hymns from the most approved authors, 1799

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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 >

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