728    112th     John Newton
“The flesh lusteth against the Spirit.” Gal. 5. 17

1 Strange and mysterious is my life;
  What opposites I feel within!
  A stable peace, a constant strife;
  The rule of grace, the power of sin;
  Too often I am captive led,
  Yet often triumph in my Head.

2 I prize the privilege of prayer,
  But O what backwardness to pray!
  Though on the Lord I cast my care,
  I feel its burden every day;
  I’d seek his will in all I do,
  Yet find my own is working too.

3 I call the promises my own,
  And prize them more than mines of gold;
  Yet though their sweetness I have known,
  They leave me unimpressed and cold;
  One hour upon the truth I feed,
  The next I know not what I read.

4 Thus different powers within me strive,
  And grace and sin by turns prevail;
  I grieve, rejoice, decline, revive,
  And victory hangs in doubtful scale;
  But Jesus has his promise passed
  That grace shall overcome at last.