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Monday, January 01, 2007

Looking to Jesus in Death

Why should we shrink at Jordan’s flood,
Or dread the unknown way,
See, yonder rolls a stream of blood,
that bears the curse away.

Death lost his sting when Jesus bled;
when Jesus left the ground,
Disarmed, the king of terrors fled,
and felt a mortal wound.

And though this pale and ghastly face
may seem to frown the while,
We soon shall see the king of grace,
and He’ll forever smile.

-- Joseph Swain (Gadsby Hymnbook #467)

Joseph Swain was born in Birmingham, England in 1761. He was baptized in 1783 by John Rippon, and entered the ministry in 1791. While pastoring at Walworth he published 192 hymns in 1792 under the title "Walworth Hymns". Swain died in 1797. [Note: this info taken from The Poets of the Church: A Series of Biographical Sketches of Hymn-writers with Notes on Their Hymns, by Edwin Francis Hatfield; Published 1884, New York: A. D. F. Randolph & Co.]

1 comment:

R. L. Vaughn said...

Gadsby's hymn book can be purchased from the Bible believers' book shop. It can also be ordered through the Gospel Standard Strict Baptists, but I don't think they have an online presence. I don't know about Rippon's, unless you can find a used one.