Confidence

Yes! since God himself has said it,
On the promise I rely;
His good word demands my credit,
What can unbelief reply?
He is strong, and can fulfil;
He is truth, and therefore will.

As to all the doubts and questions
Which my spirit often grieve,
These are Satan's sly suggestions,
And I need no answer give;
He would fain destroy my hope,
But the promise bears it up.

Sure the Lord thus far has brought me
By his watchful tender care;
Sure 'tis he himself has taught me
How to seek his face by pray'r:
After so much mercy past,
Will he give me up at last?

True, I've been a foolish creature,
And have sinn'd against his grace:
But forgiveness is his nature,
Though he justly hides his face:
Ere he call'd me, well he knew*
What a heart like mine would do.

In my Saviour's intercession
Therefore I will still confide;
Lord, accept my free confession,
I have sinn'd, but thou hast died†;
This is all I have to plead,
This is all the plea I need.

* Isa 48:8.      † Rom 8:34

—John Newton
From Olney Hymns, 1842.


Tune: "Unser Herrscher," Joachim Neander (courtesy Hymnary.org).

About the Author

John Newton (1725–1807) is best known today for his hymn "Amazing Grace." Originally a sailor and slave trader, the "old African blasphemer" ceased his blasphemy and embraced his creator as his saviour. He devoted the remainder of his life to the ministry as an Anglican priest, and was also an outspoken opponent of the slave trade.

Newton's hymnodic endeavors are contained in the collection Olney Hymns, co-authored by himself and William Cowper. Newton, however, wrote most of the volume, penning a hymn a week until it was completed. The Anglican church then only allowing psalmody in corporate worship, Newton never lived to see his compositions sung in church.

Thoughts

I love this hymn for exactly what it shows: confidence. God is strong enough to keep me in his hand, John 10:29; and since he cannot lie, Num 23:19, therefore when he says in John 10:28 that he will, he will. Satan cannot destroy my hope, because I have this promise. God does not start something and then not finish it, and my salvation accordingly will be completed, Phil 1:6. He knew before he called me what evil would spring from my heart, Isa 48:8, yet he conspired in spite of it to save me; what can I do to lose my salvation? My only hope is in Christ, and he is all I need.

The last couplet of the second-to-last verse, especially, always gets me. It at once asserts why salvation is permanent, and why we should not then sin freely, knowing that we are assured forgiveness.

The selection of a tune has a bit of history. A very respected friend and authority on hymns set it to Irby (Once in Royal David's City), which was a good match, but seemed somehow a bit generic. Going over this post, I was racking my brain for a better one, and settled on Haydn's Dulce Carmen, which, however, was not metered properly; it fit with some stretching of the words, but wasn't optimal. Finally, I found Unser Herrscher (above), and it fit so perfectly that I looked no further.

For a recommended recording, I suggest the one in Todd Murray's album Beyond Amazing Grace: The Forgotten Hymns of John Newton (via beyondamazinggrace.com). It does not have this tune, but one that Murray composed himself.