1 Constrained by their Lord to embark,
And venture without him to sea.
The season tempestuous and dark,
How grieved the disciples must be!
But though he remain'd on the shore,
He spent the night for them in prayer;
They still were as safe as before,
And equally under his care.
2 They strove, though in vain, for a while,
The force of the waves to withstand;
But when they were wearied with toil,
They saw their dear Savior at hand;
They gladly received him on board,
His presence their spirits revived;
The sea became calm at his word,
And soon at their port they arrived.
3 Believers now like them are tossed
By storms, of a perilous deep;
But cannot be possibly lost
While Jesus has charge of the ship:
Though billows and winds are enraged,
And threaten to make them their sport;
This pilot hath firmly engaged
To bring them, in safety to port.
4 If sometimes we struggle alone,
And he is withdrawn from our view,
It makes us more willing to own
We nothing without him can do:
Then Satan our hopes would assail,
But Jesus is still within call;
And when our poor efforts quite fail,
He comes in good time, and does all.
5 Yet, Lord, we are ready to shrink,
Unless we thy presence perceive;
O save us (we cry) or we sink,
We would but we cannot believe:
The night has been long, and severe,
The winds and the seas are still high;
Dear Savior, this moment appear,
And say to our souls, "It is I!"
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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