Believe and Be At Peace

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O why should gloomy thoughts arise

Author: Thomas Hastings
Published in 16 hymnals

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Piano/Organ
	The Art of Hymn Playing Volume II - Intr…

Representative Text

1. O why should gloomy thoughts arise,
And darkness fill the mind;
Why should that bosom heave with sighs,
And yet no refuge find?

2. Hast thou not heard of Gilead’s balm—
The great Physician there,
Who can thy slavish fear disarm,
And save thee from despair?

3. Remain not overwhelmed with grief,
And filled with sore dismay,
Nor looking downward for relief,
Without one cheering ray:

4. Lift up thy streaming eyes to Heaven,
The great Atonement see;
And all thy sins shall be forgiven;
Believe, and thou art free.

5. For thee the Savior suffered shame,
And shed His precious blood:
Believe, believe in Jesus’ name,
And be at peace with God.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #5513

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Author: Thomas Hastings

Hastings, Thomas, MUS. DOC., son of Dr. Seth Hastings, was born at Washington, Lichfield County, Connecticut, October 15, 1784. In 1786, his father moved to Clinton, Oneida Co., N. Y. There, amid rough frontier life, his opportunities for education were small; but at an early age he developed a taste for music, and began teaching it in 1806. Seeking a wider field, he went, in 1817, to Troy, then to Albany, and in 1823 to Utica, where he conducted a religious journal, in which he advocated his special views on church music. In 1832 he was called to New York to assume the charge of several Church Choirs, and there his last forty years were spent in great and increasing usefulness and repute. He died at New York, May 15, 1872. His aim was the… Go to person page >

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First Line:	O why should gloomy thoughts arise
Title:	Believe and Be At Peace
Author:	Thomas Hastings
Meter:	8.6.8.6
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Why should gloomy thoughts arise. T. Hastings. [Faith.] In his Devotional Hymns, 1850, p. 87, in 3 stanzas of 8 lines. Another form of the text "O why should gloomy thoughts arise?" is in the Methodist Episcopal Hymns, 1849, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. This indicates that the original publication has yet to be found.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology, Appendix, Part II (1907)

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