Strange and Mysterious Is My Life
John Newton, 1725-1807
Strange and mysterious is my life,
What opposites I feel within -
A stable peace, a constant strife,
The rule of grace, the power of sin;
Too often I am captive led,
Yet daily triumph in my Head.
I prize the privilege of prayer,
But, oh, what backwardness to pray!
Though on the Lord I cast my care,
I feel its burden every day;
I seek His will in all I do,
Yet find my own is working too.
I call the promises my own,
And prize them more than mines of gold.
Yet though their sweetness I have known,
They leave me unimpressed and cold;
One hour upon the truth I feed,
The next I know not what I read.
I love the holy day of rest,
When Jesus meets His gathered saints;
Sweet day, of all the week the best!
For its return my spirit pants;
Yet often, through my unbelief,
It proves a day of guilt and grief.
While on my Savior I rely,
I know my foes shall lose their aim,
And therefore dare thier power defy,
Assured of conquest through His name;
But soon my confidence is slain,
And all my fears return again.
Thus different powers within me strive,
And grace and sin by turns prevail;
I grieve, rejoice, decline, revive,
And victory hangs in doubtful scale.
But Jesus has His promise past,
That grace shall overcome at last.
