"Redeemer! Whither Should I Flee?"

British priest, Augustus Toplady (1740 - 1778), is probably best known today for penning the words to the hymn "Rock of Ages". In his all-too-short life, he also wrote The Doctrine of Absolute Predestination Stated and Asserted in 1769. Historic Proof of the Doctrinal Calvinism of the Church of England was written in 1774. In 1775, Toplady left the Anglican church and began preaching at a French Calvinist church in London. Toplady died of tuberculosis a few months shy of his 38th birthday. Quite sobering when one thinks of how much he and others accomplished in far fewer years than many of us have already lived.

Here are the first two verses of one of the many hymns Toplady wrote.


"Redeemer! Whither Should I Flee?"

Redeemer! whither should I flee,
Or how escapee the wrath to come?
The weary sinner flies to Thee
For shelter from impending doom;
Smile on me, gracious Lord,
And show Thyself the Friend of sinners now.

Beneath the shadow of Thy cross,
The heavy-laden soul finds rest;
I would esteem the world but dross,
So I might be of Christ possessed.
I'd seek my every joy in Thee,
Be thou both life and light to me.

(Photo taken by my son on the Gulf coast of Texas. It makes me think of Jonah fleeing via ship from his appointed mission to Nineveh.)