Help My Unbelief

I got a new book in the mail today, “The Hymns of Philip Doddridge”, which contains over 300 hymns written in the early to  mid-18th century (Doddridge was born in 1702 and died in 1751).  As I paged through it this morning I found this hymn which ties in to my previous post.  It turns out it is also in another hymnal I have, “Our Own Hymn-Book“, compiled by C. H. Spurgeon for use in his church in the late 19th century.  The scripture text from which it is taken is Mark 9:24

Jesus, our soul’s delightful choice,
In Thee believing we rejoice;
Yet still our joy is mix’d with grief,
While faith contends with unbelief.

Thy promises our hearts revive,
And keep our fainting hopes alive;
But guilt, and fears, and sorrows rise,
And hide the promise from our eyes.

O let not sin and Satan boast,
While saints lie mourning in the dust;
Nor see that faith to ruin brought,
Which Thy own gracious hand hath wrought.

Do Thou the dying spark inflame;
Reveal the glories of Thy name;
And put all anxious doubts to flight,
As shades dispers’d by op’ning light.

From “THE HYMNS OF PHILIP DODDRIDGE“,  #197
Compiled and Edited by Graham C. Ashworth
©2010 by Reformation Heritage Books

Another song on the same topic can be found in Gadsby’s Hymns, #278.  Written by John Newton, the text is powerful.

I know the Lord is nigh,
And would but cannot pray,
For Satan meets me when I try,
And frights my soul away.

I would, but can’t repent,
Though I endeavour oft;
This stony heart can ne’er relent
Till Jesus makes it soft.

I would, but cannot love,
Though wooed by love divine;
No arguments have power to move
A soul so base as mine.

I would, but cannot rest
In God’s most holy will;
I know what he appoints is best,
Yet murmur at it still.

O could I but believe,
Then all would easy be;
I would, but cannot; Lord, relieve!
My help must come from thee.

By nature prone to ill,
Till thy appointed hour,
I was as destitute of will
As now I am of power.

Wilt thou not crown at length
The work thou hast begun?
And with the will afford me strength
In all thy ways to run?

To hear this in a contemporary setting, go here. It’s part of Red Mountain Music’s “Help My Unbelief” CD.

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