The Good Samaritan

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How kind the good Samaritan

Author: John Newton
Tune: BERA (Gould)
Published in 2 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, Noteworthy Composer
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

1 How kind the good Samaritan
To him who fell among the thieves!
Thus Jesus pities fallen men,
And heals the wounds the soul receives.

2 Oh! I remember well the day,
When sorely wounded, nearly slain,
Like that poor man I bleeding lay,
And groaned for help, but groaned in vain.

3 Men saw me in this helpless case,
And passed without compassion by;
Each neighbor turned away his face,
Unmoved by my mournful cry.

4 But He whose name had been my scorn
(As Jews Samaritans despise)
Came when He saw me thus forlorn,
With love and pity in His eyes.

5 Gently He raised me from the ground,
Pressed me to lean upon His arm;
And into every gaping wound,
He poured His own all-healing balm.

6 Unto His church my steps He led,
The house prepared for sinners lost;
Gave charge I should be clothed and fed,
And took upon Him all the cost.

7 Thus saved from death, from want secured,
I wait till He again shall come,
When I shall be completely cured,
And take me to His heavenly home.

8 There through eternal boundless days
When nature’s wheel no longer rolls;
How shall I love, adore, and praise,
This good Samaritan to souls!

Source: The Cyber Hymnal #11911

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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 >

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