1 When Hannah pressed with grief,
Poured forth her soul in prayer;
She quickly found relief,
And left her burden there:
Like her in every trying case,
Let us approach the throne of grace.
2 When she began to pray
Here heart was pained and sad;
But ere she went away,
Was comforted, and glad:
In trouble, what a resting place
Have they who know the throne of grace.
3 Though men, and devils rage,
And threaten to devour;
The saints from age to age,
Are safe from all their pow'r:
Fresh strength they gain to run their race,
By waiting at the throne of grace.
4 Eli her case mistook,
How was her spirit moved
By his unkind rebuke?
But God her cause approv'd,
We need not fear a creature's face,
While welcome at the throne of grace.
5 She was not fill'd with wine,
(As Eli rashly thought)
But with a faith divine,
And found the help she sought:
Though men despise and call us base,
Still let us ply the throne of grace.
6 Men have not power or skill,
With troubled souls to bear,
Though they express good-will,
Poor comforters they are:
But swelling sorrows sink apace,
When we approach the throne of grace.
7 Numbers before have tried,
And found the promise true;
Nor one been yet denied,
Then why should I or you?
Let us by faith their footsteps trace,
And hasten to the throne of grace.
8 As fogs obscure the light,
And taint the morning air,
But soon are put to flight,
If the bright sun appear;
Thus Jesus will our sorrows chase,
By shining from the throne of grace.
The Christian's duty, exhibited in a series of hymns, 1791
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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