1 Time by moments steals away,
First the hour, and then the day,
Small the daily loss appears,
Yet it soon amounts to years;
Thus another year is flown,
Now it is no more our own;
If it brought or promised good,
Than the years before the flood.
2 But (may none of us forget)
It has left us much in debt;
Favors from the Lord received
Sins that have his spirit grieved,
Marked by an unerring hand,
In his book recorded stand;
Who can tell the vast amount,
Placed to each of our account?
3 Happy the believing soul!
Christ for you has paid the whole;
While you own the debt is large,
You may plead a full discharge;
But poor careless sinner, say,
What can you to justice pay?
Tremble, lest when life is past,
Into prison you be cast.
4 Will you still increase the score?
Still be careless as before;
Oh, forbid it, gracious Lord,
Touch their spirits by thy word,
Now in mercy to them show,
What a mighty debt they owe!
And their unbelief subdue,
Let them find forgiveness too.
5 Spared to see another year,
Let thy blessings meet us here;
Come, thy dying work revive,
Bid thy drooping garden thrive;
Sun of Righteousness arise!
Warm our hearts and bless our eyes!
Let our prayer thy bowels move,
Make this year a time of love.
Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the use of Christians, 1803
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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