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How tedious and tasteless the hours None upon earth I desire besides thee
John Newton printed it in 1779 in Olney Hymns, Book I, no. 46, under Psalm 73:25.
WRITTEN BY
John Newton 1725–1807
PRINTED
1779 Olney Hymns · no. 46
METRE
8.8.8.8a 4 stanzas
WRITTEN ON
Psalm 73:25 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
How tedious and tasteless the hours
How tedious and tasteless the hours,
When JESUS no longer I see;
Sweet prospects, sweet birds, and sweet flow’rs,
Have lost all their sweetness with me:
The mid–summer sun shines but dim,
The fields strive in vain to look gay;
But when I am happy in Him,
December’s as pleasant as May.
No line of this stanza quotes a verse closely; it is the hymn's own confession.
Where Newton found it
Newton printed the hymn under Psalm 73:25. The line that comes closest to it is marked.
Whom have I in heaven but You? And on earth I desire no one besides You. PSALM 73:25 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 73
Content with beholding his face, My all to his pleasure resigned; No changes of season or place, Would make any change in my mind: While blessed with a sense of his love, A palace a toy would appear; And prisons would palaces prove, If JESUS would dwell with me there. STANZA III
Its place in the book
Book I of Olney Hymns walks through the Bible from Genesis to Revelation, one hymn per passage: 141 hymns. This is number 46. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.
NO. 46 · JOHN NEWTON · THIS HYMN How tedious and tasteless the hours
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