Friday, February 13, 2009

COME, MY SOUL, THY SUIT PREPARE

This is one of my favorite hymns. The words of this hymn were composed by John Newton (1779), and have often encouraged me when my road has been difficult and my faith weak (see above post).

Come, my soul, thy suit prepare: Jesus loves to answer prayer;
he himself has bid thee pray, therefore will not say thee nay; therefore will not say thee nay.

Thou art coming to a King, large petitions with thee bring;
for his grace and pow'r are such, none can ever ask too much; none can ever ask too much.

With my burden I begin: Lord, remove this load of sin;
let thy blood, for sinners spilt, set my conscience free from guilt; set my conscience free from guilt.

Lord, I come to thee for rest, take possession of my breast;
there thy blood-bought right maintain, and without a rival reign; and without a rival reign.

While I am a pilgrim here, let thy love my spirit cheer;
as my Guide, my Guard, my Friend, lead me to my journey's end; lead me to my journey's end.

Show me what I have to do, ev'ry hour my strength renew:
let me live a life of faith, let me die thy people's death; let me die thy people's death.

2 comments:

robert said...

Thank you for posting John Newton's great hymn on prayer. (The second stanza in particular is stunning!) Today is the 202nd anniversary of Newton's death.

If you enjoy learning about hymns and their authors, I invite you to check out my daily blog on the subject, Wordwise Hymns.

Camille said...

Robert,
You may want to check out the first of three articles our local paper is running about John Newton. http://www.nwtntoday.com/news.php?viewStory=35353

I am part of a group of writers who research and produce the weekly Soli Deo Gloria column. Two additional articles on Newton will run Dec. 31 and Jan. 7, and these will be available online a few days after publication.