Lord, thou hast won, at length I yield

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Lord, thou hast won, at length I yield

Author: John Newton
Published in 89 hymnals

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	Three Hymn Tunes by Lowell Mason

Representative Text

1 Lord, Thou hast won, at length I yield,
My heart, by mighty grace compelled,
Surrenders all to Thee;
Against Thy terrors long I strove,
But who can stand against Thy love?
Love conquers even me.

2 All that a wretch could do, I tried,
Thy patience scorned, Thy power defied,
And trampled on Thy laws;
Scarcely Thy martyrs at the stake,
Could stand more steadfast for Thy sake,
Than I in Satan’s cause.

3 But since Thou hast Thy love revealed,
And shown my soul a pardon sealed,
I can resist no more:
Couldst Thou for such a sinner bleed?
Canst Thou for such a rebel plead?
I wonder and adore!

4 If Thou hadst bid Thy thunders roll,
And lightnings flash to blast my soul,
I still had stubborn been:
But mercy has my heart subdued,
A bleeding Savior I have viewed,
And now, I hate my sin.

5 Now, Lord, I would be Thine alone,
Come take possession of Thine own,
For Thou hast set me free;
Released from Satan’s hard command,
See all my powers waiting stand,
To be employed by Thee.

6 My will conformed to Thine would move,
On Thee my hope, desire, and love,
In fixed attention join;
My hands, my eyes, my ears, my tongue,
Have Satan’s servants been too long,
But now they shall be Thine.

7 And can I be the very same,
Who lately durst blaspheme Thy name,
And on Thy Gospel tread?
Surely each one, who hears my case,
Will praise Thee, and confess Thy grace
Invincible indeed!

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #11149

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Author: John Newton

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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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	Lord, thou hast won, at length I yield
Author:	John Newton
Meter:	8.8.6.8.8.6
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Lord, Thou hast won, at length I yield. J. Newton. [Surrender to Christ.] Appeared in the Gospel Magazine, Jan., 1775, in 7 stanzas of 6 lines, headed "The Surrender," and signed "Vigil." After a slight revision it was given in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Book i., No. 121, in 7 stanzas of 6 lines, with the extended heading "The Rebel's Surrender to Grace. Lord, what wilt Thou have me to do?" It is based on the words of St. Paul uttered on his way to Damascus, and recorded in Acts ix. 6. Although there is nothing in the Memoirs of Newton (so far as we can see) to justify us in saying that this hymn is autobiographical, yet its intense individuality suggests that it is so, and that he found in the fierceness of Saul the persecutor, and the submissive peacefulness of Saul the disciple, the embodiment of his own history and experience. Thus regarded the hymn is interesting, but for practical purposes it is far from being one of Newton's best productions. It is found in a few collections, but in an abbreviated form.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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