Oppressed with unbelief and sin

Representative Text

1 Oppressed with unbelief and sin,
Fightings without, and fears within;
While earth and hell, with force combined,
Disturbed and terrified my mind:

2 Thus sorely pressed, I sought the Lord,
To give me some sweet cheering word;
Again I sought, and yet again,
I waited long, but not in vain.

3 Oh! 'twas a cheering word indeed1
Exactly suited to my need;
"Sufficient for thee is my grace,
Thy weakness my great power displays."

4 Now I despond and mourn no more,
I welcome all I feared before;
Though weak, I'm strong; tho' troubled blest;
For Christ's own power shall on me rest.

The Hartford Selection of Hymns from the most approved authors, 1799

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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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