The Lord said unto Moses,
Numbers 21:8Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.
Words: John Newton, Olney Hymns (London: W. Oliver, 1779), Book 1, number 62. The good Physician.
Music: Munich Neuvermehrtes Gesangbuch (Meiningen, Germany: 1693). Harmony by Felix Mendelssohn, 1847 (🔊 pdf nwc).
How lost was my condition,
Till Jesus made me whole!
There is but one physician
Can cure a sin-sick soul!
Next door to death He found me,
And snatched me from the grave;
To tell to all around me,
His wondrous power to save.
The worst of all diseases
Is light, compared with sin;
On every part it seizes,
But rages most within:
’Tis palsy, plague, and fever,
And madness—all combined;
And none but a believer,
The least relief can find.
From men great skill professing,
I thought a cure to gain;
But this proved more distressing,
And added to my pain:
Some said that nothing ailed me,
Some gave me up for lost;
Thus every refuge failed me,
And all my hopes were crossed.
At length this great Physician,
How matchless is His grace!
Accepted my petition,
And undertook my case;
First gave me sight to view Him,
For sin my eyes had sealed;
Then bid me look unto Him;
I looked, and I was healed.
A dying, risen Jesus,
Seen by the eye of faith,
From every danger frees us,
And saves the soul from death:
Come then to this Physician,
His help He’ll freely give;
He makes no hard condition,
’Tis only—look, and live.