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.