1 Uncertain how the way to find
Which to salvation led,
I list'ned long, with anxious mind,
To hear what others said.
2 When some of joys and comforts told,
I fear'd that I was wrong;
For I was stupid, dead, and cold--
Had neither joy nor song.
3 Of fierce temptations others talk'd,
Of anguish and dismay;
Thro' what distresses they had walk'd,
Before they found the way.
4 Ah! then I thought my hopes were vain
For I had lived at ease;
I wish'd for all my fears again,
To make me more like these.
5 I had my wish--the Lord disclos'd
The evils of my heart;
And left my naked soul expos'd
To satan's fi'ry dart.
6 Alas! "I now must give it up,"
I cry'd in deep despair;
How could I dream of drawing hope
From what I cannot bear!
7 Again my Saviour brought me aid,
And when he set me free,
"Trust simply on my word," he said,
"And leave the rest to me."
Source: Hymns, Selected and Original: for public and private worship (1st ed.) #400
Newton, John, who was born in London, July 24, 1725, and died there Dec. 21, 1807, occupied an unique position among the founders of the Evangelical School, due as much to the romance of his young life and the striking history of his conversion, as to his force of character. His mother, a pious Dissenter, stored his childish mind with Scripture, but died when he was seven years old. At the age of eleven, after two years' schooling, during which he learned the rudiments of Latin, he went to sea with his father. His life at sea teems with wonderful escapes, vivid dreams, and sailor recklessness. He grew into an abandoned and godless sailor. The religious fits of his boyhood changed into settled infidelity, through the study of Shaftesbury and… Go to person page >
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