Amazing Grace

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.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear
The hour I first believed!

Through many dangers, toils and snares,

I have already come;
’Tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.

The Lord has promised good to me,

His Word my hope secures;
He will my Shield and Portion be,
As long as life endures.

Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,

And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.

The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,

The sun forbear to shine;
But God, Who called me here below,
Will be forever mine.

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’d first begun.

Words: John Newton (1779)

The rest of the story:

The hymn was first titled 'Faith's Review and Expectation' and was written by John
Newton whose story is just as amazing. He began life as the priviliged son of a
sea captain, became a slave and a slave ship captain before becoming a servant of
Christ. John's mother, a fragile but determined woman, dedicated herself to his
education. She taught him to read and write and fervently prayed that he become a
minister of the Gospel. By the time John was four she had taught him to read the
Scriptures and recite hymns from 'Divine and Moral Songs for Children' by Isaac
Watts. When John was only six years old his mother died. His father remarried and
John was sent on to boarding school. He was a good student who, by age ten, could
read Latin and showed a keen interest in mathematics. When John was eleven his
father took him to sea. He spent six years with his father on several voyages.
John's father was a well respected man and captain who sought and secured several
positions of opportunity for his son. But John, who was becoming increasingly
rebellious, methodically squandered them all. Through his fathers influence he
began several voyages in positions of authority only to be demoted to common
seaman. He strayed so far from his mothers spiritual teaching that he began
influencing others away from deeply held beliefs. His life had so degenerated that
he was often disliked and distrusted by officers and crew alike. He ran from his
fathers support, ignored his superior officers authority and fell so far from his
mothers dreams that he became known among sailors as "The Great Blasphemer."
During one of these voyages, at John's request and to his new captains relief, he
was allowed to accompany, and became a partner with, a slave trader from West
Africa. His partner was married to an African princess who took an instant
disliking to John. During one of his partners absences he fell gravely ill and his
partners wife took advantage of the situation. John found himself enslaved,
brutalized and begging for food. Ironically, the other slaves were his only source
of mercy. He was eventually rescued, at his fathers urging, and began a return
journey to England. On this journey John once again earned the disdain of captain
and crew. This was the voyage, however, that was to change John's life in ways
that he could not imagine. He began to wrestle with his conscience during a
violent storm in March of 1748. After seeing a shipmate washed overboard, feeling
a resignation to death among the crew and discussing their situation with his
captain, a plea rose from within him: "If this will not do, the Lord have mercy on
us!" As he shouted he wondered; could there be any mercy for one who profaned the
Lord's name as effectively and deliberately as he? In seeking an answer to his
question John Newton was led back to the Bible. On March 21st, lashed to the helm
of a foundering ship, he considered many verses which he began to see in the Light
of Truth. He was especially struck by the story of the prodigal son in Luke,
chapter 15. He marveled at the father who raced to meet his wayward son and he
felt hope for his own soul. Two years later, with his fathers blessing, he married
his childhood sweetheart, Mary Catlett. The slave trade, at the time, was a
respectable profession and John continued in it for some time before illness
forced him to leave the sea. (Years later his testimony before Parliament and his
'Thoughts upon the African Slave Trade' published in 1787 helped influence law
makers to abolish slave trade within British colonies in 1807 and emancipate the
British colonial slaves in 1833.) In 1755, in need of employment, he was offered
and accepted the position of Surveyor of the Tides in Liverpool England. While at
sea he began a disciplined study of the Bible which he continued ashore. He also
became friend to George Whitfield, deacon of the Church of England and John
Wesley, the founder of Methodism. At the age of 39, on his second attempt at
ordination, his mothers prayers were answered and John Newton was appointed Curate
of Olney in Buckinghamshire where, three years later he met the poet William
Cowper. In 1779 the first edition of the 'Olney Hymns' was published containing
348 pieces, 67 by Cowper and 281 by Newton, including what would later be known to
the world as 'Amazing Grace'. Shortly after it's first publication John left Olney
to become pastor of St. Mary Woolnoth Church in London. He remained in that
position until his death December 21,1807. The epitaph he wrote for his tombstone
reads: "John Newton, Clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in
Africa, was, by the rich mercy of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, restored,
pardoned, and appointed to preach the gospel he had long labored to destroy."
Today, all who by belief in Christ Jesus and baptism in the same name will receive
the grace of God in their life.