1 While sinners utter boasting words,
And glory in their shame;
The Lord, well pleased, an ear affords
To those who fear His name.
2 They often meet to seek His face,
And what they do or say,
Is noted in His book of grace,
Against another day.
3 For they, by faith, a day descry,
A joyfully expect,
When He, descending from the sky,
His jewels will collect.
4 Unnoticed now, because unknown,
A poor and suffering few;
He comes to claim them for His own,
And bring them forth to view.
5 With transport then, their Savior’s care
And favor they shall prove;
As tender parents guard and spare
The children of their love.
6 Assembled worlds will then discern
The saints alone are blest;
When wrath shall like an oven burn,
And vengeance strike the rest.
Source: The Cyber Hymnal #8169
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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