I’d like to start writing monthly articles about some of the old hymns of the faith. Too easily we get into the habit of ritualistic praise, and forget the meaning and depth of the words we are singing. I hope that as I share some background and a little insight on these songs, you will be encouraged and reminded of the truth contained in them. This month’s article is about an old favorite, Amazing Grace. Here are the lyrics:
1. Amazing Grace! how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me! I once was lost, but now am found,
Was blind, but now I see.
2. ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved; How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!
3. Thru many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace hath bro’t me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
4. The Lord has promised good to me,
His Word my hope secures;
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.
5. When we’ve been there ten thousand years,
Bright shining as the sun,
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise
Than when we’ve first begun.
About the Author
John Newton was born in 1725 in Wapping, England. At age 11, he set sail with a merchant company, where he worked for several years before being pressed into the Royal Navy in 1743. John became staunchly irreligious, angry, and a freethinker. On a later voyage, he was left in West Africa in 1745, where he was enslaved and treated cruelly. In the providence of God, a sea captain commissioned by John’s father to search for John found him in 1748, and they sailed back to England. The voyage nearly ended in disaster, when a vicious storm almost destroyed the ship he was on.
John saw his need for the Savior while facing what might have been his last moments on Earth. He realized his own feeble works were far from adequate (…a wretch like me!), and was born again.
When he returned to England, he entered the slave trade ‘business‘. (Unfortunately, at that time, many did not consider slavery wrong, or a violation of basic human rights.) However, John did later realize how wrong slavery was, and quit his job. He took a pastorate in 1764, and with the help of William Cowper, he wrote the hymn we have come to know and love, Amazing Grace.
Citations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Newton
A Few Thoughts…
The lyrics to Amazing Grace so accurately describe our hopeless state before the Lord in the light of His justice. We really are wretches, to despise the righteous commandments of God, and to go our own way! Our sin is such an offence to God, that He demanded a perfect sacrifice as the payment for our sin. What wondrous mercy of Jesus Christ, to come and be that perfect sacrifice! Truly, how sweet is the sound of that amazing grace!