by John Newton

“ We stand upon the brink of death When most we seem secure. If we today sweet peace possess, It soon may be withdrawn; Some change may plunge us in distress, Before tomorrow's dawn. Disease and pain invade our health And find an easy prey; And oft, when least expected, wealth Takes wings and flies away. A fever or a blow can shake Our wisdom's boasted rule; And of the brightest genius make A madman or a fool. The gourds, from which we look for fruit, Produce us only pain; A worm unseen attacks the root, And all our hopes are vain. I pity those who seek no more Than such a world can give ”

“ When the gospel trumpet sounds, When I think how grace abounds, When I feel sweet peace within, Then I’d rather die than sin. When the cross I view by faith, Sin is madness, poison, death; Tempt me not, ’tis all in vain, Sure I ne’er can yield again. Satan, for awhile debarred, When he finds me off my guard, Puts his glass before my eyes, Quickly other thoughts arise. What before excited fears, Rather pleasing now appears; If a sin, it seems so small, Or, perhaps, no sin at all. ”

“ The men of Gibeon wore disguise, And gained their peace by framing lies; For Joshua had no pow'r to spare, If he had known from whence they were. But JESUS invitations sends, Treating with rebels as his friends; And holds the promise forth in view, To all who for his mercy sue. Too long his goodness I disdained, Yet went at last and peace obtained; But soon the noise of war I heard, And former friends in arms appeared. Weak in myself for help I cried, LORD, I am pressed on every side; The cause is thine, they fight with me, But every blow is aimed at thee. ”

“ They felt an instinct for their young, But would not turn or stop. Shall brutes, devoid of thought, Their Maker's will obey; And we, who by his grace are taught, More stubborn prove than they? He shed his precious blood To make us his alone; If washed in that atoning flood We are no more our own. If he his will reveal, Let us obey his call; And think whate'er the flesh may feel, His love deserves our all. We should maintain in view His glory, as our end; Too much we cannot bear, or do, For such a matchless friend. ”

“ No mortal as happy as I, My summer would last all the year. Content with beholding His face, My all to His pleasure resigned, No changes of season or place Would make any change in my mind: While blessed with a sense of His love, A palace a toy would appear; All prisons would palaces prove, If Jesus would dwell with me there. Dear Lord, if indeed I am Thine, If Thou art my sun and my song, Say, why do I languish and pine? And why are my winters so long? O drive these dark clouds from the sky, Thy soul-cheering presence restore ”

“ They shall always find Him near; Though the earth were wrapped in flame, They have no just cause for fear. Hark! His voice in accents mild, O, how comforting and sweet! Speaks to every humble child, Pointing out a sure retreat! Come, and in My chambers hide, To My saints of old well known; There you safely may abide, Till the storm be overblown. You have only to repose On My wisdom, love, and care; Where My wrath consumes my foes, Mercy shall My children spare: While they perish in the flood, You that bear My holy mark, Sprinkled with atoning blood, Shall be safe within the ark. ”

“ My folly I confessed, and prayed, Forgive my sin, and spare my gourd. His wondrous love can ne'er be told, He heard me and relieved my pain; His word the threat'ning worm controlled, And bid my gourd revive again. Now, Lord, my gourd is mine no more, 'Tis thine, who only couldst it raise; The idol of my heart before, Henceforth shall flourish to thy praise. ”

“ In vain the tempter spread his wiles, The world no more could charm; I lived upon my Savior's smiles, And leaned upon his arm. In prayer my soul drew near the Lord, And saw his glory shine; And when I read his holy word, I called each promise mine. Then to his saints I often spoke; Of what his love had done; But now my heart is almost broke, For all my joys are gone. Now when the evening shade prevails, My soul in darkness mourns, And when the morn the light reveals, No light to me returns. ”

“ I am JESUS, whom thou hast blasphemed, And crucified often afresh; But let me henceforth be esteemed, Thy brother, thy bone, and thy flesh: My pardon I freely bestow, Thy wants I will fully supply; I'll guide thee and guard thee below, And soon will remove thee on high. Go, publish to sinners around, That they may be willing to come, The mercy which now you have found, And tell them that yet there is room." O, sinners, the message obey! No more vain excuses pretend; But come, without farther delay, To Jesus our brother and friend. ”

“ This dew still falls at his command, To keep his chosen plants alive; They shall, though in a thirsty land, Like willows by the waters thrive. But chiefly when his people meet, To hear his word and seek his face; The gentle dew, with influence sweet, Descends and nourishes their grace. But ah! what numbers still are dead, Though under means of grace they lie! The dew still falling round their head, And yet their heart untouched and dry. Dear Savior, hear us when we call, To wrestling prayer an answer give; Pour down thy dew upon us all, That all may feel, and all may live. ”

“ By Cain's own hand, good Abel died, Because the Lord approved his faith; And, when his blood for vengeance cried, He vainly thought to hide his death. Such was the wicked murd'rer Cain, And such by nature still are we, Until by grace we're born again, Malicious, blind and proud, as he. Like him the way of grace we slight, And in our own devices trust; Call evil good, and darkness light, And hate and persecute the just. ”

“ To praying souls He always grants, More than they can express. Since ’tis the Lord’s command, My mouth I open wide; Lord open Thou Thy bounteous hand, That I may be supplied. Thine image, Lord, bestow, Thy presence and Thy love; I ask to serve Thee here below, And reign with Thee above. Teach me to live by faith, Conform my will to Thine; Let me victorious be in death, And then in glory shine. ”

“ Can thy heart or hands endure In the Lord’s avenging day? See, His mighty arm is bared! Awful terrors clothe His brow! For His judgment stand prepared, Thou must either break or bow. At His presence nature shakes, Earth affrighted hastes to flee; Solid mountains melt like wax, What will then become of thee? Who His advent may abide? You that glory in your shame, Will you find a place to hide When the world is wrapped in flame? Then the rich, the great, the wise, Trembling, guilty, self condemned ”

“ We seem alike when thus we meet, Strangers might think we all are wheat; But to the Lord's all-searching eyes, Each heart appears without disguise. The tares are spared for various ends, Some, for the sake of praying friends; Others, the LORD, against their will, Employs his counsels to fulfill. But though they grow so tall and strong, His plan will not require them long; In harvest, when he saves his own, The tares shall into hell be thrown. O! awful thought, and is it so? Must all mankind the harvest know? Is every man a wheat or tare? ”

“ He has washed us with His blood, He has brought us nigh to God. Let us love the Lord Who bought us, Pitied us when enemies, Called us by His grace, and taught us, Gave us ears and gave us eyes: He has washed us with His blood, He presents our souls to God. Let us sing, though fierce temptation Threaten hard to bear us down! For the Lord, our strong Salvation, Holds in view the conqueror’s crown: He Who washed us with His blood Soon will bring us home to God. ”

“ Once, they’ll cry, we scorned to doubt, Though in lies our trust we put; Now our lamp of hope is out, The door of mercy shut. If they then presume to plead, “Lord open to us now; We on earth have heard and prayed, And with thy saints did bow:” He will answer from his throne, “Though you with My people mixed, Yet to Me you ne’er were known, Depart, your doom is fixed.” O that none who worship here May hear that word, Depart! Lord impress a godly fear On each professor’s heart: Help us, Lord, to search the camp, Let us not ourselves beguile; Trusting to a dying lamp Without a stock of oil. ”

“ Mercy hitherto has spared, But have mercies been improved? Let us ask, am I prepared Should I be this year removed? Some we now no longer see, Who their mortal race have run; Seemed as fair for life as we, When the former year begun; Some, but who God only knows, Who are here assembled now, Ere the present year shall close, To the stroke of death must bow. Life a field of battle is, Thousands fall within our view ”

“ For though we are strangers We have a good Guide, And trust in all dangers, The Lord will provide. When Satan appears To stop up our path, And fill us with fears, We triumph by faith; He cannot take from us, Though oft he has tried, This heart-cheering promise, The Lord will provide. He tells us we're weak, Our hope is in vain, The good that we seek We ne'er shall obtain, But when such suggestions Our spirits have plied, This answers all questions, The Lord will provide. ”

“ Time, with an unwearied hand, Pushes round the seasons past, And in life’s frail glass, the sand Sinks apace, not long to last: Many, well as you or I, Who last year assembled thus; In their silent graves now lie, Graves will open soon for us! Daily sin, and care, and strife, While the Lord prolongs our breath, Make it but a dying life, Or a kind of living death: Wretched they, and most forlorn, Who no better portion know; Better ne’er to have been born, Than to have our all below. When constrained to go alone, Leaving all you love behind ”

“ Thus Satan, that raven unclean, Who croaks in the ears of the saints; Compelled by a power unseen, Administers oft to their wants: God teaches them how to find food From all the temptations they feel; This raven, who thirsts for my blood, Has helped me to many a meal. ”

“ We knew not the desert of sin, Nor Whom we thus defied; Nor where our guilty souls had been, If Jesus had not died.
We knew not what a law we broke, How holy, just and pure! Nor what a God we durst provoke, But thought ourselves secure. ”

“ All I want for life or pleasure, Food and med’cine, shield and sword: Let the world account me poor, Having this I need no more. Food to which the world’s a stranger, Here my hungry soul enjoys; Of excess there is no danger, Though it fills, it never cloys: On a dying Christ I feed, He is meat and drink indeed. ”

“ Kindle, Savior, in my heart A flame of love divine; Hear, hear, for mine I trust thou art, And sure I would be thine: If my soul has felt thy grace, If to me thy name is known; Why should trifles fill the place, Due to thyself alone. 'Tis a strange mysterious life I live from day to day; Light and darkness, peace and strife, Bear an alternate sway; When I think the battle won I have to fight it o'er again; When I say I'm overthrown, Relief I soon obtain. Often at the mercy-seat While calling on thy name; Swarms of evil thoughts I meet, Which fill my soul with shame. ”

“ Faith should not want a hoard or heap, But trust the LORD for food. The truths by which the soul is fed, Must thus be had afresh; For notions resting in the head, Will only feed the flesh. However true, they have no life, Or unction to impart; They breed the worms of pride and strife, But cannot cheer the heart. Nor can the best experience past, The life of faith maintain; The brightest hope will faint at last, Unless supplied again. Dear Lord, while we in prayer are found, Do thou the Manna give ”

“ So thunder, o’er the distant hills, Gives but a murm’ring sound, But as the tempest spreads, it fills, And makes the welkin sound. May we, at least, with one consent, Fall low before the throne With tears the nation’s sins lament, The churches, and our own. The humble souls who mourn and pray, The Lord approves and knows; His mark secures them in the day When vengeance strikes his foes. ”

“ Jesus loves to answer prayer; He Himself has bid thee pray, Therefore will not say thee nay. Thou art coming to a King, Large petitions with thee bring; For His grace and power are such, None can ever ask too much. With my burden I begin: Lord, remove this load of sin; Let Thy blood, for sinners spilt, Set my conscience free from guilt. Lord, I come to Thee for rest, Take possession of my breast; There Thy blood bought right maintain, And without a rival reign. As the image in the glass Answers the beholder’s face ”

“ Lest when you seek mercy at last, The Savior should frown you away. What is it the world can propose? A morsel of meat at the best! For this are you willing to lose A share in the joys of the blest? Its pleasures will speedily end, Its favor and praise are but breath ”

“ There is no other pool Where streams of sovereign virtue flow To make a sinner whole. Here then, from day to day, I’ll wait, and hope, and try; Can Jesus hear a sinner pray, Yet suffer him to die? No: He is full of grace; He never will permit A soul, that fain would see His face, To perish at His feet. ”

“ Years, like mortals, wear away, Have their birth, and dying day; Youthful spring, and wintry age, Then to others quit the stage. Sad experience may relate What a year the last has been! Crops of sorrow have been great, From the fruitful seeds of sin: O! what numbers gay and blithe, Fell by death’s unsparing scythe? While they thought the world their own, Suddenly he mowed them down. See how war, with dreadful stride, Marches at the Lord’s command, Spreading desolation wide, Through a once much-favored land: War, with heart and arms of steel, Preys on thousands at a meal ”

“ Thus we ourselves would justify, Though we the law transgress; Like him, unable to deny, Unwilling to confess. But when by faith the sinner sees A pardon bought with blood; Then he forsakes his foolish pleas, And gladly turns to God. ”

“ A hope that triumphs over death, Give joys like those above. To take a glimpse within the veil, To know that God is mine; Are springs of joy that never fail, Unspeakably divine! These are the joys which satisfy, And sanctify the mind; Which make the spirit mount on high, And leave the world behind. ”

“ A thousand evil thoughts intrude Tumultuous in my breast; Which indispose me for my food, And rob me of my rest. Lord I am sick, regard my cry, And set my spirit free; Say, canst thou let a sinner die, Who longs to live to thee? ”

“ And yet to idols oft we seek, While thou art in our view. Some golden calf, or golden dream, Some fancied creature-good, Presumes to share the heart with him, Who bought the whole with blood. LORD, save us from our golden calves, Our sin with grief we own; We would no more be thine by halves, But live to thee alone. ”

“ Constrained me to become the Lord's, And all my idol-gods renounce. Now, Satan, thou hast lost thy aim, Against this brand thy threats are vain; JESUS has plucked it from the flame, And who shall put it in again? ”

“ Satan will not be braved By such a worm as I; Then let me learn with David, To trust in the Most High; To plead the name of Jesus, And use the sling of prayer; Thus armed, when Satan sees us He'll tremble and despair. ”

“ Incarnate God! the soul that knows Thy name's mysterious power Shall dwell in undisturbed repose, Nor fear the trying hour. Thy wisdom, faithfulness and love, To feeble helpless worms; A buckler and a refuge prove, From enemies and storms. In vain the fowler spreads his net, To draw them from thy care; Thy timely call instructs their feet, To shun the artful snare. When like a baneful pestilence, Sin mows its thousands down On every side, without defence, Thy grace secures thine own. No midnight terrors haunt their bed, No arrow wounds by day ”

“ Pore upon your sins no longer, Well I know their mighty guilt; But my love than death is stronger, I my blood have freely spilt: Though your heart has long been hardened, Look on me--it soft shall grow ”

“ More likely to rob than to feed, Were ravens who live upon prey; But when the Lord's people have need, His goodness will find out a way: This instance to those may seem strange, Who know not how faith can prevail; But sooner all nature shall change, Than one of God's promises fail. Nor is it a singular case, The wonder is often renewed; And many can say, to his praise, He sends them by ravens their food: Thus worldlings, though ravens indeed, Though greedy and selfish their mind, If God has a servant to feed, Against their own wills can be kind. ”

“ My soul once had its plenteous years, And throve, with peace and comfort filled, Like the fat kine and ripened ears, Which Pharaoh in his dream beheld. With pleasing frames and grace received, With means and ordinances fed; How happy for a while I lived, And little feared the want of bread. But famine came and left no sign, Of all the plenty I had seen; Like the dry ears and half-starved kine, I then looked withered, faint and lean. ”

“ While with ceaseless course the sun Hasted through the former year, Many souls their race have run, Never more to meet us here; Fixed in an eternal fate, They have done with all below; We a little longer wait, But how little—none can know. As the wingèd arrow flies Speedily the mark to find; As the lightning from the skies Darts, and leaves no trace behind; Swiftly thus our fleeting days Bear us down life’s rapid stream; Upwards, Lord, our spirits raise, All below is but a dream. ”

“ As parched in the barren sands Beneath a burning sky, The worthless bramble with'ring stands, And only grows to die. Such is the sinner's aweful case, Who makes the world his trust; And dares his confidence to place In vanity and dust. A secret curse destroys his root, And dries his moisture up; He lives awhile, but bears no fruit, Then dies without a hope. But happy he whose hopes depend Upon the LORD alone; The soul that trusts in such a friend, Can ne'er be overthrown. ”

“ Honey though the bee prepares, An envenomed sting he wears; Piercing thorns a guard compose Round the fragrant blooming rose. Where we think to find a sweet, Oft a painful sting we meet: When the rose invites our eye, We forget the thorn is nigh. Why are thus our hopes beguiled? Why are all our pleasures spoiled? Why do agony and woe From our choicest comforts grow? Sin has been the cause of all! 'Twas not thus before the fall: What but pain, and thorn, and sting, From the root of sin can spring? ”

“ Poor sinners! little do they think With whom they have to do! But stand securely on the brink Of everlasting woe. Belshazzar thus, profanely bold, The Lord of hosts defied; But vengeance soon his boasts controlled, And humbled all his pride. He saw a hand upon the wall (And trembled on his throne) Which wrote his sudden dreadful fall In characters unknown. Why should he tremble at the view Of what he could not read? Foreboding conscience quickly knew His ruin was decreed. ”

“ When Jesus claims the sinner's heart, Where Satan ruled before; The evil spirit must depart, And dares return no more. But when he goes without constraint, And wanders from his home; Although withdrawn, 'tis but a feint, He means again to come. Some outward change perhaps is seen If Satan quit the place; But though the house seem swept and clean, 'Tis destitute of grace. Except the Savior dwell and reign Within the sinner's mind; Satan, when he returns again, Will easy entrance find. ”

“ From pole to pole let others roam, And search in vain for bliss; My soul is satisfied at home, The Lord my portion is. Jesus, who on his glorious throne Rules heav'n and earth and sea; Is pleased to claim me for his own, And give himself to me. ”

“ The leper by John Newton
Oft as the leper's case I read, My own described I feel; Sin is a leprosy indeed, Which none but CHRIST can heal. Awhile I would have passed for well, And strove my spots to hide; Till it broke out incurable, Too plain to be denied. Then from the saints I sought to flee, And dreaded to be seen; I thought they all would point at me, And cry, "Unclean, unclean!" What anguish did my soul endure, Till hope and patience ceased? The more I strove myself to cure, The more the plague increased. ”