Approach, My Soul, The Mercy Seat
Approach, My Soul, the Mercy Seat
Approach, my soul, the mercy seat
Where Jesus answers prayer;
There humbly fall before His feet,
For none can perish there.
Thy promise is my only plea;
With this I venture nigh:
Thou callest burdened souls to Thee,
And such, O Lord, am I.
Bowed down beneath a load of sin,
By Satan sorely pressed
By war without, and fears within,
I come to Thee for rest.
Be Thou my shield and hiding place
That, sheltered near Thy side,
I may my fierce accuser face
And tell him Thou hast died.
O wondrous love! to bleed and die,
To bear the cross and shame,
That guilty sinners, such as I,
Might plead Thy gracious Name!
“KEEP YOUR RELATIONSHIP with God honest and personal,” John Newton would say. He always remembered the days when he was a slave trader, living a debauched life. After his conversion, he lived in constant amazement that God could love him. The well-known hymn “Amazing Grace” (March 17) is his personal testimony.
When Newton became a minister, he started writing hymns. He never considered himself a poet, but he often wrote hymns for his midweek Bible study and prayer service. This was probably one of those hymns.
Newton frequently used the pronoun I in his hymns, reflecting his deep and personal relationship with God. He often expressed his personal questions and fears, as he does in this hymn. In his prayer life, Newton regularly struggled with the doubts thrown at him by Satan, but he knew that he belonged to Christ and that ultimately Christ was the Victor.
Since we have a great High Priest who has entered heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to what we believe. . . . Let us come boldly to the throne of our gracious God. There we will receive his mercy, and we will find grace to help us when we need it most.
Hebrews 4:14, 16
From the book
