"Amazing Grace"
As Written By John Newton
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.
T'was Grace that
taught...
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears
relieved.
How precious did that
Grace appear...
the hour I first
believed.
The Lord has promised
good to me...
His word my hope
secures.
He will my shield and
portion be...
as long as life
endures.
Through many dangers,
toils and snares...
I have already come.
Tis Grace that
brought me safe thus far...
and Grace will lead
me home.
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.
John
Newton was born in London July 24, 1725, the son
of a commander of a merchant ship which sailed the Mediterranean .
When John was eleven, he went to sea with his father and made six voyages with
him before the elder Newton
retired. In 1744 John was impressed into service on a man-of-war, the H. M. S.
Harwich. Finding conditions on board intolerable, he deserted but was soon
recaptured and publicly flogged and demoted from midshipman to common seaman.
Finally
at his own request he was exchanged into service on a slave ship, which took
him to the coast of Sierra
Leone . He then became the servant of a slave
trader and was brutally abused. Early in 1748 he was rescued by a sea captain
who had known John's father. John Newton ultimately became captain of his own
ship, one which plied the slave trade.
Although
he had had some early religious instruction from his mother, who had died when
he was a child, he had long since given up any religious convictions. However,
on a homeward voyage, while he was attempting to steer the ship through a
violent storm, he experienced what he was to refer to later as his “great
deliverance.” He recorded in his journal that when all seemed lost and the ship
would surely sink, he exclaimed, “Lord, have mercy upon us.” Later in his cabin
he reflected on what he had said and began to believe that God had addressed
him through the storm and that grace had begun to work for him.
For
the rest of his life he observed the anniversary of May 10, 1748 as the day of
his conversion, a day of humiliation in which he subjected his will to a higher
power. “Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares, I have already come; ’tis grace
has bro’t me safe thus far, and grace will lead me home.” He continued in the
slave trade for a time after his conversion; however, he saw to it that the
slaves under his care were treated humanely.
In
1750 he married Mary Catlett, with whom he had been in love for many years. By
1755, after a serious illness, he had given up seafaring forever. During his
days as a sailor he had begun to educate himself, teaching himself Latin, among
other subjects. From 1755 to 1760 Newton was
surveyor of tides at Liverpool , where he came
to know George Whitefield, deacon in the Church of England, evangelistic
preacher, and leader of the Calvinistic Methodist Church. Newton became Whitefield’s enthusiastic
disciple. During this period Newton
also met and came to admire John Wesley, founder of Methodism. Newton ’s self-education continued, and he
learned Greek and Hebrew.
He
decided to become a minister and applied to the Archbishop of York for
ordination. The Archbishop refused his request, but Newton persisted in his goal, and he was
subsequently ordained by the Bishop of Lincoln and accepted the curacy of
Olney, Buckinghamshire. Newton ’s
church became so crowded during services that it had to be enlarged. He
preached not only in Olney but in other parts of the country. In 1767 the poet
William Cowper settled at Olney, and he and Newton became friends.
Cowper
helped Newton
with his religious services and on his tours to other places. They held not
only a regular weekly church service but also began a series of weekly prayer
meetings, for which their goal was to write a new hymn for each one. They
collaborated on several editions of Olney Hymns, which achieved lasting
popularity. The first edition, published in 1779, contained 68 pieces by Cowper
and 280 by Newton .
Among
Newton’s contributions which are still loved and sung today are “How Sweet the
Name of Jesus Sounds” and ”Glorious Things of Thee Are Spoken,” as well as
“Amazing Grace.” Composed probably between 1760 and 1770 in Olney, ”Amazing
Grace” was possibly one of the hymns written for a weekly service. Through the
years other writers have composed additional verses to the hymn which came to
be known as “Amazing Grace” (it was not thus entitled in Olney Hymns), and
possibly verses from other Newton
hymns have been added. However, these are the six stanzas that appeared, with
minor spelling variations, in both the first edition in 1779 and the 1808
edition, the one nearest the date of Newton ’s
death. It appeared under the heading Faith’s Review and Expectation, along with
a reference to First Chronicles, chapter 17, verses 16 and 17:
16 And David the king came and sat
before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that
thou hast brought me hitherto?
17 And yet this was a small thing in
thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant's house for a great
while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high
degree, O LORD God.
While
Amazing Grace has a reference
to 1Chronicles 17:16-17 in the Onley hymnal, it is more likely to be based on
Ephesians 2:4-9, Paul's great treatise on Grace, which says:
4 But God, who is rich in mercy, for his
great love wherewith he loved us,
5 Even when we were dead in sins, hath
quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;)
6 And hath raised us up together, and
made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:
7 That in the ages to come he might shew
the exceeding riches of his grace in his kindness toward us through Christ
Jesus.
8 For by grace are ye saved through
faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
9 Not of works, lest any man should
boast.
*******
"Fear Eats the Soul"
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