Ask What Thou Wilt

And dost Thou say, "Ask what thou wilt?"

Author: John Newton
Published in 57 hymnals

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Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1. And dost Thou say, Ask what thou wilt?
Lord, I would seize the golden hour;
I pray to be released from guilt,
And freed from sin and Satan’s power.

2. More of Thy presence, Lord, impart,
More of Thine image let me bear;
Erect Thy throne within my heart,
And reign without a rival there.

3. Give me to read my pardon sealed,
And from Thy joy to draw my strength;
To have Thy boundless love revealed
In all its height, and breadth, and length.

4. Grant these requests—I ask no more,
But to Thy care the rest resign;
Living or dying, rich or poor,
All shall be well if Thou art mine.

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #170

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 >

Text Information

First Line: And dost Thou say, "Ask what thou wilt?"
Title: Ask What Thou Wilt
Author: John Newton
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

NEWTON (Florio)


WINTHROP (Abbott)


QUEBEC (Baker)

Henry Baker (b. Nuneham, Oxfordshire, England, 1835; d. Wimbledon, England, 1910; not to be confused with Henry W. Baker) was educated as a civil engineer at Winchester and Cooper's Hill and was active in railroad building in India. In 1867 he completed a music degree at Exeter College, Oxford, Engl…

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The Cyber Hymnal #170

Include 56 pre-1979 instances
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