1 As parchèd in the barren sands
Beneath a burning sky,
The worthless bramble withering stands,
And only grows to die.
2 Such is the sinner’s awful case,
Who makes the world his trust;
And dares his confidence to place
In vanity and dust.
3 A secret curse destroys his root,
And dries his moisture up;
He lives awhile, but bears no fruit,
Then dies without a hope.
4 But happy he whose hopes depend
Upon the Lord alone;
The soul that trusts in such a friend,
Can ne’er be overthrown.
5 Though gourds should wither, cisterns break,
And creature comforts die;
No change his solid hope can shake,
Or stop his sure supply.
6 So thrives and blooms the tree whose roots
By constant streams are fed;
Arrayed in green, and rich in fruits,
It rears its branching head.
7 It thrives, though rain should be denied,
And drought around prevail;
’Tis planted by a river’s side
Whose waters cannot fail.
Source: The Cyber Hymnal #8993
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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