Why Should I Complain

When my Savior, my Shepherd is near

Author: John Newton
Published in 26 hymnals

Representative Text

1 When my Savior, my Shepherd is near,
How quickly my sorrows depart!
New beauties around me appear,
New spirits enliven my heart;
His presence gives peace to my soul,
And Satan assaults me in vain;
While my Shepherd his power controls
I think I no more shall complain.

2 But alas! what a change do I find,
When my Shepherd withdraws from my sight?
My fears all return to my mind,
My day is soon changed into night.
Then Satan his efforts renews,
To vex and ensnare me again;
All my pleasing enjoyments I lose,
And can only lament and complain.

3 By these changes I often pass through
I am taught my own weakness to know;
I am taught what my Shepherd can do,
And how much to his mercy I owe:
It is he that supports me through all,
When I faint, he revives me again;
He attends to my prayer when I call,
And bids me no longer complain.

4 Wherefore then should I murmur and grieve,
Since my Shepherd is always the same,
And has promised he never will leave
The soul that confides in his name;
To relieve me from all that I fear,
He was buffeted, tempted, and slain;
And at length he will surely appear,
Tho' he leaves me a while to complain.

5 While I dwell in an enemy's land,
Can I hope to be always in peace?
'Tis enough that my Shepherd's at hand,
And that shortly this warfare will cease;
For ere long he will bid me remove
From this region of sorrow and pain,
To abide in his presence above,
And then I no more shall complain.

Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the use of Christians, 1803

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: When my Savior, my Shepherd is near
Title: Why Should I Complain
Author: John Newton
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 26 of 26)

A Selection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs #d233

A Selection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Designed for the Use of the Pious #d141

A Selection of Hymns, from Various Authors #d426

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Baptist Hymn Book #aB23

Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the use of Christians. 9th ed. #d215

Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the Use of Christians #d173

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Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the use of Christians #129

Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the Use of Christians. 8th ed. #d209

Hymns and Spiritual Songs with Choruses Affixed; as Usually Sung at Camp-Meetings. 24th ed. #d127

Hymns and Spiritual Songs, for the Use of Christians #d126

Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Selected and Original. 7th ed. #d490

Hymns, Psalms, and Spiritual Songs, including Some Never Before in Print #d342

Selection of Hymns and Spiritual Songs #d123

Songs of Zion #d208

Songs of Zion #d103

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The Baptist Hymn Book #B23

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The Choice #S21

The Choice #S21

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The Cluster of Spiritual Songs, Divine Hymns and Sacred Poems #DLXXVIII

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The Discipline of the United Freewill Baptist Church #27

The Dover Selection of Spiritual Songs #d262

The Dover Selection of Spiritual Songs, with an Appendix of Choice Hymns #d254

The Sacred Songster. 5th ed. #d190

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