1 Before Elisha's gate
The Syrian leper stood,
But could not brook to wait,
He deem'd himself too good:
He thought the prophet would attend,
And not to him a message send.
2 Have I this journey come,
And will he not be seen?
I were as well at home,
Would washing make me clean:
Why must I wash in Jordan's flood?
Damascus' rivers are as good.
3 Thus, by his foolish pride,
He almost miss'd a cure;
Howe'er at length he try'd
And found the method sure:
Soon as his pride was brought to yield,
His leprosy was quickly heal'd.
4 Leprous and proud as he,
To Jesus thus I came,
From sin to set me free,
When first I heard his fame:
Surely, thought I, my pompous train
Of vows and tears will notice gain.
5 My heart devis'd the way
Which I suppos'd he'd take;
And when I found delay,
Was ready to go back:
Had he some painful task enjoin'd
I to performance seem'd inclin'd.
6 When by his word he spake,
"that fountain open'd see;
"Twas open'd for thy sake,
"Go wash and thou art free:"
Oh! how did my proud heart gainsay,
I fear'd to trust this simple way.
7 At length I trial made,
When I had much endur'd,
The message I obey'd,
I wash'd and I was cur'd:
Sinners this healing fountain try
Which cleans'd a wretch so vile as I.
Source: Hymns and Spiritual Songs for the use of Christians #16
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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