My enemy is fled.
VI
My Saviour, by his powerful word,
Has turn’d my night to day;
And his salvation’s joys restored
Which I had sinn’d away.
VII
Dear Lord, I wonder and adore,
Thy grace is all divine;
Oh! keep me that I sin no more
Against such love as thine!
54
Hear What He Has Done for My Soul!
By Newton
I
Saved by blood, I live to tell
What the love of Christ hath done;
He redeem’d my soul from hell,
Of a rebel made a son:
Oh! I tremble still to think
How secure I lived in sin;
Sporting on destruction shrink,
Yet preserved from falling in.
II
In his own appointed hour,
To my heart the Saviour spoke;
Touch’d me by his Spirit’s power,
And my dang’rous slumber broke.
Then I saw and own’d my guilt:
Soon my gracious Lord replied,
“Fear not, I my blood have spilt,
’Twas for such as thee I died.”
III
Shame and wonder, joy and love,
All at once possess’d my heart;
Can I hope thy grace to prove
After acting such a part?
“Thou hast greatly sinn’d,” he said,
“But I freely all forgive;
I myself thy debt have paid,
Now I bid thee rise and live.”
IV
Come, my fellow-sinners, try,
Jesus heart is full of love!
Oh that you, as well as I,
May his wondrous mercy prove!
He has sent me to declare,
All is ready, all is free:
Why should any soul despair,
When he saved a wretch like me?
55
Freedom from Care
By Newton
I
While I lived without the Lord,
(If I might be said to live,)
Nothing could relief afford,
Nothing satisfaction give.
II
Empty hopes and groundless fear
Moved by turn my anxious mind;
Like a feather in the air,
Made the sport of every wind.
III
Now I see, whate’er betide,
All is well, if Christ be mine;
He has promised to provide,
I have only to resign.
IV
When a sense of sin and thrall
Forced me to the sinner’s Friend,
He engaged to manage all,
By the way, and to the end.
V
“Cast,” he said, “on me thy care,
’Tis enough that I am nigh;
I will all thy burdens bear,
I will all thy wants supply.
VI
“Simply follow as I lead,
Do not reason, but believe;
Call on me in time of need,
Thou shalt surely help receive.”
VII
Lord, I would, I do submit,
Gladly yield my all to thee;
What thy wisdom sees most fit,
Must be surely best for me.
VIII
Only, when the way is rough,
And the coward flesh would start,
Let thy promise and thy love
Cheer and animate my heart.
56
Humiliation and Praise
By Newton
I
When the wounded spirit hears
The voice of Jesus blood,
How the message stops the tears
Which else in vain had flow’d!
Pardon, grace, and peace proclaim’d,
And the sinner call’d a child;
Then the stubborn heart is tamed,
Renewed and reconciled.
II
Oh! ’twas grace indeed to spare
And save a wretch like me!
Men or angels could not bear
What I have offer’d thee!
Were thy bolts at their command,
Hell ere now had been my place;
Thou alone couldst silent stand
And wait to show thy grace.
III
If, in one created mind,
The tenderness and love
Of thy saints on earth were join’d
With all the hosts above;
Still that love were weak and poor,
If compared, my Lord, with thine;
Far too scanty to endure
A heart so vile as mine.
IV
Wondrous mercy I have found,
But, ah, how faint my praise!
Must I be a cumber-ground,
Unfruitful all my days?
Do I in thy garden grow,
Yet produce thee only leaves?
Lord, forbid it should be so!
The thought my spirit grieves.
V
Heavy charges Satan brings
To fill me with distress;
Let me hide beneath thy wings,
And plead thy righteousness:
Lord, to thee for help I call;
’Tis thy promise bids me come;
Tell him thou hast paid for all,
And that shall strike him dumb.
57
For the Poor
By Cowper
I
When Hagar found the bottle spent,
And wept o’er Ishmael,
A message from the Lord was sent
To guide her to a well.
II
Should not Elijah’s cake and cruse
Convince us at this day,
A gracious God will not refuse
Provisions by the way?
III
His saints and servants shall be fed,
The promise is secure:
“Bread shall be given them,” as he said,
“Their water shall be sure.”
IV
Repasts far richer they shall prove,
Than all earth’s dainties are;
’Tis sweet to taste a Saviour’s love,
Though in the meanest fare.
V
To Jesus then your trouble bring,
Nor murmur at your lot;
While you are poor, and he is King,
You shall not be forgot.
58
Home in View
By Newton
I
As when the weary trav’ler gains
The height of some o’erlooking hill,
His heart revives if, cross the plains,
He eyes his home, though distant still.
II
While he surveys the much-loved spot,
He slights the space that lies between;
His past fatigues are now forgot,
Because his journey’s end is seen.
III
Thus when the Christian pilgrim views
By faith his mansion in the skies,
The sight his fainting strength renews,
And wings his speed to reach the prize.
IV
The thought of home his spirit cheers,
No more he grieves for troubles past,
Nor any future trial fears,
So he may safe arrive at last.
V
’Tis there, he says, I am to dwell
With Jesus in the realms of day;
Then I shall bid my cares farewell,
And he shall wipe my tears away.
VI
Jesus, on thee our hope depends,
To lead us on to thine abode:
Assured our home will make amends
For all our toil while on the road.30
V
Dedication and Surrender
59
Old Things Are Passed Away
By Newton
I
Let worldly minds the world pursue
It has no charms for me;
Once I admired its trifles too,
But grace has set me free.
II
Its pleasures now no longer please,
No more content afford;
Far from my heart be joys like these,
Now I have seen the Lord.
