43

Faith a New and Comprehensive Sense

I

Sight, hearing, feeling, taste, and smell.
Are gifts we highly prize;
But faith does singly each excel,
And all the five comprise.

II

More piercing than the eagle’s sight,
It views the world unknown,
Surveys the glorious realms of light,
And Jesus on the throne.

III

It hears the mighty voice of God,
And ponders what he saith.
His word and works, his gifts and rod,
Have each a voice to faith.

IV

It feels the touch of heav’nly power,
And from that boundless source
Derives fresh vigour every hour
To run its daily course.

V

The truth and goodness of the Lord
Are suited to its taste;
Mean is the worldling’s pamper’d board,
To faith’s perpetual feast.

VI

It smells the dear Redeemer’s name
Like ointment poured forth;
Faith only knows, or can proclaim,
Its savour or its worth.

VII

Till saving faith possess the mind,
In vain of sense we boast;
We are but senseless, tasteless, blind,
And deaf and dead and lost.

Where this text comes from

First published in Olney Hymns (1779). First located printing is this volume; an earlier periodical printing has not been established. [1] [2] [3]

Structure read from the source's markup; the words have not been compared against a page scan. Last checked 2026-08-15.

Taken from Standard Ebooks, standardebooks/john-newton_william-cowper_olney-hymns, book-3.xhtml. Rights: public domain (SE dedication; underlying text pre-1931).

Earlier sources (2)

This poem as JSON or plain text. Line anchors #L1–#L28.

Cite this poem

John Newton (1725–1807). “Faith a New and Comprehensive Sense.” First published in Olney Hymns (1779). Text: Poem Index, https://poemindex.org/john-newton/faith-a-new-and-comprehensive-sense/. Append #L14 to cite line 14, or #L4-L9 for lines 4–9.

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