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Hymns We Sing
A series of articles about well-
by Frank White
No 3 -
Words John Newton (1725-
“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound” So begins one of the most loved hymns, a staple of many denominations. The author of theses words was John Newton, a sea captain who plied in the slave trade. On one homeward voyage while he was attempting to steer his 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 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. So was born the hymn we all know so well.
Most hymnals publish 4 verses although John Newton wrote 6 – all hymnals start with the first three verses as:
1 Amazing grace! How sweet the sound
2 ‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
3 Through many dangers, toils and snares.
Now comes the tricky bit-
4 When we`ve been there ten thousand years -
Or 4 The Lord has promised good to me. –( by John Newton)
Newton’s original verses included the following two:
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,
Shall be forever mine.
Among John Newton`s contributions which are still loved and sung today are
“How sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds”
“Glorious Things of Thee are Spoken”
Did you know?
John Wesley`s singing rules for the Methodists were.
1 Learn the tune
2 Sing them as they are printed
3 Sing all
4 Sing lustily and with a good courage
5 Sing modestly. Do not bawl.
6 Sing in time. Do not run before or stay behind.
7 Above all, sing spiritually. Have an eye to God in every word you sing. Aim to please him more than yourself, or any other creature. In order to do this, attend strictly to the sense of what you sing, and see that your heart is not carried away with the sound, but offered to God continually.