1 When Joshua, by God’s command,
Invaded Canaan’s guilty land;
Gibeon, unlike the nations round,
Submission made and mercy found.
2 Their stubborn neighbors who, enraged,
United war against them waged,
By Joshua soon were overthrown,
For Gibeon’s cause was now his own.
3 He, from whose arm they ruin feared,
Their leader and ally appeared;
An emblem of the Savior’s grace,
To those who humbly seek His face.
4 The men of Gibeon wore disguise,
And gained their peace by framing lies;
For Joshua had no power to spare,
If he had known from whence they were.
5 But Jesus invitations sends,
Treating with rebels as His friends;
And holds the promise forth in view,
To all who for His mercy sue.
6 Too long His goodness I disdained,
Yet went at last and peace obtained;
But soon the noise of war I heard,
And former friends in arms appeared.
7 Weak in myself for help I cried,
"Lord, I am pressed on every side;
The cause is Thine: They fight with me,
But every blow is aimed at Thee."
Source: The Cyber Hymnal #12173
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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