Behold the Throne of Grace!

Representative Text

1 Behold the throne of grace!
The promise calls me near:
there Jesus shows a smiling face,
and waits to answer prayer.

2 That rich atoning blood,
which sprinkled round we see,
provides for those who come to God
an all prevailing plea.

3 My soul, ask what thou wilt;
thou canst not be too bold;
since his own blood for thee he spilt,
what else can he withhold?

4 Beyond thy utmost wants
his love and pow'r can bless;
to praying souls he always grants
more than they can express.

5 Thine image, Lord, bestow,
thy presence and thy love;
I ask to serve thee here below,
and reign with thee above.

6 Teach me to live by faith;
conform my will to thine;
let me victorious be in death,
and then in glory shine.

Source: Trinity Psalter Hymnal #522

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 >

Text Information

First Line: Behold the throne of grace!
Title: Behold the Throne of Grace!
Author: John Newton (1779)
Meter: 6.6.8.6
Language: English
Notes: Spanish translation: See "Al Trono de la gracia" by Wayne Andersen
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

Behold the throne of grace. J. Newton. [The Throne of Grace.] Appeared in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Book i.. No. 33, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines, and based on 1 Kings iii. 5. Although extensively used both in Great Britain and in America, it is generally in an abridged, and sometimes altered form. In 1781 J. Wesley published the last four stanzas of the original as a hymn in the Arminian Magazine, p. 285, beginning "Since 'tis the Lord's command," but it failed to attract attention, and in that form is unknown to modern hymn-books.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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Trinity Psalter Hymnal #522

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