Pensive Doubting Fearful Heart
- Text:
- John Newton
- Music:
- Justin Smith
1. Pensive, doubting, fearful heart,
Hear what Christ the Savior says.
Every word should joy impart,
Change thy mourning into praise.
Yes, he speaks, and speaks to thee,
May he help thee to believe!
Then thou presently wilt see,
Thou hast little cause to grieve.
2. "Fear thou not, nor be ashamed,
All thy sorrows soon shall end.
I who heaven and earth have framed,
Am thy husband and thy friend.
I the High and Holy One,
Israel's GOD by all adored,
As thy Savior will be known,
Thy Redeemer and thy Lord.”
3. “For a moment I withdrew,
And thy heart was filled with pain,
But my mercies I'll renew,
Thou shalt soon rejoice again.
Though I scorn to hide my face,
Very soon my wrath shall cease.
‘Tis but for a moment's space,
Ending in eternal peace.”
4. “When my peaceful bow appears,
Painted on the watery cloud,
'Tis to dissipate thy fears,
Lest the earth should be overflowed.
'Tis an emblem too of grace,
Of my cov'nant love a sign.
Though the mountains leave their place,
Thou shalt be forever mine.
5. Though afflicted, tempest-tossed,
Comfortless awhile thou art,
Do not think thou canst be lost,
Thou art graven on my heart.
All thy walls I will repair,
Thou shalt be rebuilt anew,
And in thee it shall appear,
What a God of love can do.
©2012 Justin Smith Music
Reflection
This is one of several hymns that Justin Smith contributed to “Joy Beyond The Sadness: Indelible Grace VI.” Emily Deloach did a fabulous job singing this – it is trickier than it appears to sing with the control she manages on this track. Other highlights from the recording of this song include getting Jordan Hamlin to add the bgvs since Emily and Jordan are good friends since their days as students in our Belmont RUF group. I also love the groove than Ian Fitchuk laid down on the drums and Kenny Hutson tuned down the low E string on my Danolectro and did some really great electric guitar stuff on this one too. This is an unusual hymn in that most of it is God speaking directly to the singer. In the first verse, the singer speaks to his/her heart saying “Hear what Christ says”, and then the rest of the hymn consists of promises directly from God Himself to the believer. John Newton, the author of this text is of course best known for his hymn Amazing Grace, but his letters are a true spiritual treasure as well. Newton excelled at giving spiritual counsel through letters and he puts this wisdom to good use here in this hymn. He is well acquainted with comforting doubting believers and knows well how to speak the sorts of encouraging truths that our pensive, doubting, fearful hearts need to hear.
