That was a wonder-working word

Representative Text

1 That was a wonder-working word,
Which could the vast creation raise!
Angels attendant on their Lord;
Admired the plan, and sung his praise.

2 From what a dark and shapeless mass,
All nature sprang at his command1
"Let there be light, and light there was,"
And sun, and stars, and sea, and land.

3 Thus the new forming of the soul,
Does all the power of God display,
As when he formed the mighty whole,
And kindled darkness into day.

4 Though self-destroyed, O Lord, we are,
Yet let us feel what thou canst do;
Thy word the ruin can repair,
And all our hearts create anew.

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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