Hymn Guide: Amazing Grace
“Amazing Grace” is a universal anthem of God’s grace to sinners. Now sung all over the world, it began as the personal testimony of John Newton, Anglican priest and former slave trader. Like Paul and the woman with the alabaster jar, Newton loved God much, because he had been forgiven much.
Newton’s hymn traveled across the Atlantic, where it was paired with an American folk tune, NEW BRITAIN, and published in the Southern Harmony hymnal. Composed on the pentatonic scale with the common meter of Thomas Sternhold, the tune is easy to sing, memorable, rich in pathos, and highly adaptable. It is fitting alongside the teaching of sin and grace, at services with personal testimony such as baptism and confirmation, and wherever a cappella singing is required, including the hospital and the grave.
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Verse by Verse
In 1763, 10 years before writing Amazing Grace, Newton was already exploring its themes in his journal:
I am unworthy of the high honour of speaking in his name, but if ever he permits me, grace, free grace, must be the substance of my discourse—to tell the world from my own experience, that there is mercy for blasphemers, for the most hardened, the most complicated wretches. (Journal Entry for January 7, 1763, as quoted on Hymnology Archive)
In other words, Newton drew deeply upon his own experience, his own conviction of sin and redemption, to tell the story of God’s grace. That story became a hymn on New Years 1773. In the hymn, Newton adapted the New Year tradition of looking forward and looking back.
Verse 1
Amazing grace! (how sweet the sound)
That sav’d a wretch like me
I once was lost, but now am found
Was blind, but now I see
The most striking word in the first verse is wretch, a depiction of man’s misery in his sin. The claim to personal wretchedness is reminiscent of Paul’s exclamation in Romans, when discussing his own sinful desires: “O wretched man that I am” (Romans 7:24, KJV).
In context, it is especially interesting that wretch was often used to describe slaves. In other words, Newton, the slave trader, observed and labeled the wretchedness of the men and women he bound and sold into exile. But in this hymn, Newton acknowledges that, too, he was wretched and miserable on account of his sin.
Newton recognizes that he was like the man described in Revelation, physically rich but spiritually poor and blind:
Because thou sayest, I am rich, and increased with goods, and have need of nothing; and knowest not that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind, and naked…
Revelation 3:17 (KJV)
Verse 2
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear
And grace my fears relieve;
How precious did that grace appear;
The hour I first believed
Whereas the first verse acknowledged the depth of human wretchedness, the second verse highlights the dynamics of grace. The word grace is repeated three times, and each captures a different aspect of grace.
First, God’s grace operates through the Holy Spirit to convict us of our sin and teach us to fear. We recognize the holiness of our creator God, and we see with dread how far we fall short and how hopeless we are of ever measuring up in our own power.
Second, God’s grace relieves those same fears through the gospel of Jesus Christ, who atoned for our sins on the cross, substituting himself for us and dying the death that we deserve.
Third, God’s grace becomes immediately and powerfully precious, for we realize that it is only by this grace that we can have holiness. Because Jesus died in our place, we receive his righteousness and are adopted as children of God, now our Father in Christ.
Verse 3
Thro’ many dangers, toils and snares
I have already come
‘Tis grace has brought me safe thus far
And grace will lead me home
As a sailor, Newton had experienced more than his fair share of “dangers, toils, and snares.” He survived storms, disease, punishments, and even a period when he was himself captured and enslaved in West Africa!
A mystery of God’s grace is that he often uses such trials and disasters to draw us closer to himself. Newton often traced the beginning of his conversion to March 21, 1748, when he was caught in a storm and expected his boat to sink. But when he “cried to the Lord in [his] trouble, He delivered [him] out of [his] distress.” (Psalm 107:28).
Verse 4
The Lord has promis’d good to me
His word my hope secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures.
Here, the hymn transitions from looking back on the process of conviction and conversion to looking forward at the continuing life of the Christian. Put theologically, this reflects the transition from justification to sanctification, from God’s grace as a legal covering of righteousness to the saint’s gradual growth in holiness and righteous living.
This verse reflects Newton’s active reliance upon God as a priest and minister of the gospel in the village of Olney. While this stage of life may seem less dramatic than the initial process of conversion, it features a deepening relationship with God through his word and his presence, just as a marriage deepens after the initial excitement of falling in love.
Verse 5
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail
And mortal life shall cease
I shall possess, within the vail
A life of joy and peace
Here, Newton considers the end of life and the prospect of mortality, finding his rest and hope in God. The Christian who rests in God no longer fears death. Joy and peace are fruits of the Holy Spirit, which begin now and grow into eternity (see Galatians 5:22-23).
With such confidence, a Christian is also able to take risks for the gospel. For Newton, that meant publicly confessing his own involvement in the slave trade and speaking out against it. When Newton took a church in London he grew close to William Wilberforce, a representative to Parliament who led the cause of abolition. Newton lived to see the abolition of the slave trade in England in 1807 and died later that same year.
Verse 6
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow
The sun forbear to shine
But God, who call’d me here below
Will be forever mine.
The hymn concludes with a personal claim to God. Notice, however, that this claim depends not upon human decision but rather upon the call of God. Thus, not even apocalyptic destruction can interfere with Christian hope.
This final verse is most reminiscent of Romans 8, and Paul’s triumphant declaration of assurance in the grace of God.
For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.
Romans 8:38-39
The American Finale
Most American versions of the hymn replace the final verses with a separate verse written anonymously:
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
In one sense, this verse is in continuity with Newton’s text, expanding on the “life of joy and peace” from the fifth verse. But in another sense, this verse presents a discontinuity, a different tone to the conclusion of the hymn. At the end of Watts’ text, the sun is forbearing to shine. But at the end of the American version, we are in heaven, bright shining as the sun. Call it a dose of American optimism!
On Video
The first version features an organ, congregation, and choir. Notice that even though this is sung in England, it features the American finale!
The second version is by African-American singer Aretha Franklin, recorded live at New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in 1972. This bravura performance, accompanied by piano, organ, and choir, is among the best hymn videos I have ever seen. The footage remained unpublished for more than 40 years until being unearthed for a 2019 documentary, Amazing Grace.
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Image: Southern Mediterranean Seascape (18th c.) by Adrien Manglard, courtesy of Wikimedia Commons.
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