STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

Time, with an unwearied hand Time how short

John Newton printed it in 1779 in Olney Hymns, Book II, no. 2, under Isaiah 10:3.

WRITTEN BY

John Newton 1725–1807

PRINTED

1779 Olney Hymns · no. 2

METRE

7.7.7.7 4 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Isaiah 10:3 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 4 stanzas as Newton printed them, with the verses their lines echo beside them. Point at a line to join it to its verse; click to read the passage.

SHARED WORDSthe verse shares the line's wording ECHOproposed by an AI model, confirmed by a separate check Not the author's own notes

AMONG THE SCRIPTURES

The stanzas at the centre; around them, every book its heading and its echoes come from, Old Testament on the left and New on the right. Choose a stanza or a book.

a line echoes this verse its heading or an echo comes from here

STANZA I

Time, with an unwearied hand

Time, with an unwearied hand,

Pushes round the seasons past,

And in life’s frail glass, the sand

Sinks apace, not long to last:

Many, well as you or I,

Who last year assembled thus;

In their silent graves now lie,

Graves will open soon for us!

Where Newton found it

Newton printed the hymn under Isaiah 10:3. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

What will you do on the day of reckoning when devastation comes from afar? To whom will you flee for help? Where will you leave your wealth? ISAIAH 10:3 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ ISAIAH 10

When constrained to go alone, Leaving all you love behind; Ent’ring on a world unknown, What will then support your mind? When the Lord his summons sends, Earthly comforts lose their pow’r; Honors, riches, kindred, friends, Cannot cheer a dying hour. STANZA III

Its place in the book

Book II of the hymn book, “On occasional subjects”, holds these hymns in this order: 100 hymns. This is number 2. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 2 · JOHN NEWTON · THIS HYMN Time, with an unwearied hand

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