1 Blessed Martha love and joy expressed,
To entertain her heavenly guest;
While Mary, ravished with her Lord,
Sat at his feet, and heard his word.
2 True love divine, in both the same,
Let each to glorify his name;
Each met her Lord with joyful heart,
"But Mary chose the better part."
3 While one prepared her earthly bread,
The other wanted to be fed;
One toiled with care to spread a feast,
The other leaned on Jesu's breast.
4 Both met the favor of their Lord,
His grace for each prepared a word;
While Mary drank full droughts of love,
Grace, careful Martha, did reprove.
5 Thus Christians with the world are vexed,
Oft are encumbered and perplexed;
Vain tribes so engross their thought,
The one thing needful is forgot.
6 Teach us, dear Lord, that part to choose,
Which through thy grace we ne'er shall lose;
Then could we call the world our own,
We'd leave it all to see thy throne.
The Hartford Selection of Hymns from the most approved authors, 1799
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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