Olney Hymns · Chapter
Peace Restored explained
The speaker, once afflicted by guilt and Satan's accusations, finds peace and restoration through a gracious word from the Lord.
What happens
The speaker, once afflicted by guilt and Satan's accusations, finds peace and restoration through a gracious word from the Lord. The chapter celebrates the divine grace that heals the breach caused by sin, turns night to day, and restores the joys of salvation, prompting a resolve to sin no more.
Free preview opens on this chapter — companions, themes, and character notes appear beside the text.
Narrative arc
Story tension across the book — this chapter sits in Falling action.
- Setup
- Escalation
- Breaking point
- Aftermath
- Closing
The emotional peak occurs in stanza V, where the speaker’s hope is violently extinguished as Satan obscures ev…
Full beat labels and climax notes unlock in the reader.
Follow the arc while readingThemes in this chapter
- Grace and Unmerited Favor
The speaker marvels at the divine grace that heals a breach and restores salvation despite unworthiness.
- Spiritual Warfare
Satan's accusations and the soul's affliction are overcome by the Lord's powerful word.
Characters to notice
- The Lord
The gracious speaker whose word cheers the drooping heart and restores peace.
- Satan
The cruel tempter whose boast affrights the soul, but who flees when the Lord appears.
- The Narrator
The speaker who laments past sin and rejoices in restored salvation.
- The Saints
Called to join with angels in proclaiming the grace that healed the breach.
- Angels
Invited to join the saints in proclaiming divine grace.
Key passages
“Oh! speak that gracious word again, And cheer my drooping heart; No voice but thine can soothe my pain, Or bid my fears depart.”
Please repeat that kind promise to lift my discouraged spirit; only your voice can ease my suffering and dispel my anxieties.
The speaker pleads for the comforting word of the Lord.
“And canst thou still vouchsafe to own A wretch so vile as I? And may I still approach thy throne, And Abba, Father, cry?”
Can you still accept someone as sinful as me? Am I still allowed to come before your throne and call you Father?
Expresses amazement at God's willingness to receive a repentant sinner.
“How oft did Satan's cruel boast My troubled soul affright! He told me I was surely lost, And God had left me quite.”
Satan often terrified me with his cruel claims, insisting that I was beyond hope and abandoned by God.
Describes the spiritual attack of doubt and despair.
“But now the Lord appears in view— My enemy is fled.”
But now that the Lord has revealed himself, my enemy has run away.
The presence of the Lord causes Satan to flee.
“My Saviour, by his powerful word, Has turn'd my night to day; And his salvation's joys restored Which I had sinn'd away.”
My Savior, through his mighty command, has changed my darkness into light and given back the happiness of salvation that I had lost through sin.
Celebrates the restorative power of Christ's word.
