The words
Stanza 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 pow’r controls,I think I no more shall complain.
Stanza 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 renewsTo vex and ensnare me again;All my pleasing enjoyments I lose,And can only lament and complain.
Stanza 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 who 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.
Stanza 4. Wherefore then should I murmur and grieve?Since my Shepherd is always the same,And has promised he never will leaveThe 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,Though he leaves me awhile to complain.
Stanza 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 removeFrom this region of sorrow and pain,To abide in his presence above,And then I no more shall complain.
Olney Hymns (1779), Book 3, Hymn 30. John Newton. Public domain. CCEL transcription with modernized spelling. www.praylock.com/olney-hymns/3-30
