Lightning in the Night

Representative Text

1 A GLANCE from heaven, with sweet effect,
Sometimes my pensive spirit cheers ;
But ere I can my thoughts collect,
As suddenly it disappears.

2 So lightning in the gloom of night
Affords a momentary day ;
Disclosing objects full in sight,
Which, soon as seen, are snatched away.

3 Ah ! what avail these pleasing scenes !
They do but aggravate my pain ;
While darkness quickly intervenes,
And swallows up my joys again.

4 But shall I murmur at relief?
Though short, it was a precious view,
Sent to control my unbelief,
And prove that what I read was true.

5 The lightning's flash did not create
The opening prospect it revealed ;
But only showed the real state
Of what the darkness had concealed.

6 Just so, we by a glimpse discern
The glorious things within the vail,
That, when in darkness, we may learn
To live by faith, till light prevail.

7 The Lord's great day will soon advance,
Dispersing all the shades of night ;
Then we no more shall need a glance,
But see by an eternal light.

Source: A Selection of Hymns, adapted to the devotions of the closet, the family, and the social circle; and containing subjects appropriate to the monthly concerns of prayer for the success... #11

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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 >

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Text Information

Text Information

First Line:	A glance from heaven with sweet effect
Title:	Lightning in the Night
Original Language:	English
Author:	John Newton
Source:	Olney Hymns, Book II, Hymn 84
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

A glance from heaven, with sweet effect. J. Newton. [Lightning.] This hymn, dealing with the moral and spiritual thoughts suggested by "Lightning in the night," appeared in the Gospel Magazine, April, 1775, in the Olney Hymns, 1779, Bk. ii., No. 84, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines, and later editions. It is No. 301 of Martineaus Hymns, &c, 1840-1851, and 429 in J. H. Thorn's Hymns, 1858.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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