The legion dispossessed

Mark 5:18-19 And when he was come into the ship, he that had been possessed with the devil prayed him that he might be with him. Howbeit Jesus suffered him not, but saith unto him, Go home to thy friends, and tell them how great things the Lord hath done for thee, and hath had compassion on thee.

One of my favorite little-known John Newton hymns is “The legion dispossessed.” This is Hymn 92 in Olney Hymns, compiled by John Newton and William Cowper. The Olney Hymns is arranged in three “books,” this first being hymns “On Select Texts of Scriptures.” These hymns are placed in biblical book order. Hymn 92 appears in five 8-line stanzas on pages 104-106. The meter is 8s.7s.D. Newton poetically tells the deliverance of the man possessed, found in the tombs of Gadara. He relates the deliverance of the demoniac to the great deliverance of the sinner.

1. Legion was my name by nature,

Satan raged within my breast;

Never misery was greater,

Never sinner more possessed:

Mischievous to all around me,

To myself the greatest foe;

Thus I was, when Jesus found me,

Filled with madness, sin, and woe.

2. Yet in this forlorn condition,

When he came to see me free;

I replied, to my Physician,

“What have I to do with thee?”

But he would not be prevented,

Rescued me against my will;

Had he stayed till I consented,

I had been a captive still.

3. “Satan, though thou fain wouldst have it,

Know this soul is none of thine;

I have shed my blood to save it,

Now I challenge it for mine, (b)

Though it long has thee resembled,

Henceforth it shall me obey;”

Thus he spoke while Satan trembled,

Gnashed his teeth and fled away.

4. Thus my frantic soul he healèd,

Bid my sins and sorrows cease;

“Take, said he, my pardon sealèd,

I have saved thee, go in peace:”

Rather take me, Lord, to heaven,

Now thy love and grace I know;

Since thou hast my sins forgiven,

Why should I remain below!

5. “Love, he said, will sweeten labors,

Thou hast something yet to do;

Go and tell your friends and neighbours,

What my love has done for you:

Live to manifest my glory,

Wait for heaven a little space;

Sinners, when they hear thy story,

Will repent and seek my face.”

(b) Book 3, Hymn 54, “Hear what he has done for my soul!”

I wrote a tune for this hymn that was “inspired” by the song Hold to God’s Unchanging Hand. I was meditating over the words and started humming out something that might fit the words; and I came up with a variant, based on the basic run of that tune – converted into a minor tune for “Legion was my name by nature” (which I simply called Legion). The Hymnary.Org shows a tune by John Hughes, named Calon Lân, for use with this hymn, but I have never seen the two published in a hymnal together. It may be that Newton expresses a little too much “irresistible” in the grace toward the demoniac to suit some folks, and that this has limited its use. For my part, the Lord’s power over the legion speaks peace to my soul in his power over my disease of sin and death.

I think you can click and englarge this picture.