If Solomon for wisdom prayed. J. Newton. [Lent.] First published in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Bk. i., No. 32, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines, as the second hymn on 1 Kings iii. 5, "Ask what I shall give thee." In its original form it is unknown to the hymnals; but stanzas v.-viii., as "And dost Thou say, Ask what thou wilt," is well known, and in extensive use. It appeared in this form in the Arminian Magazine, 1781, p. 231. It is given in many modern collections in Great Britain and America, and usually with slight alterations, which vary in different hymnals. In the Presbyterian Selection of Hymns, Philadelphia, 1861, it begins, "Lord, dost Thou say," &c.
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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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