GOD THE FATHER >> GRACE & MERCY OF GOD

SDAH 108

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.

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For Worship Leaders

Make each hymn more meaningful with these helpful tools: Short, ready-to-use hymn introductions for church bulletins, multiple ways to introduce a hymn based on your worship theme and in-depth history and insights to enrich your song service.

Hymn Spotlight: Amazing Grace

Few hymns are as beloved—or as personal—as Amazing Grace. Written by John Newton, a former slave ship captain turned pastor, it first appeared in the Olney Hymns (1779) under the title Faith’s Review and Expectation. Drawing from 1 Chronicles 17:16–17, Newton poured his testimony into this hymn, marveling at the grace that saved “a wretch like me.”

The well-known final stanza, “When we’ve been there ten thousand years,” wasn’t part of Newton’s original text. It first appeared anonymously in the Baptist Songster (1829) and gained widespread recognition after E.O. Excell paired it with this hymn in 1910.

The tune, NEW BRITAIN, emerged from early American folk traditions, first printed in Virginia Harmony (1831). Its haunting pentatonic melody helped it thrive in singing conventions and camp meetings—and even climb music charts in the 1970s through Judy Collins and the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards.

The SDAH version is arranged by Robert J. Batastini, a leading figure in American church music. Through centuries and across cultures, Amazing Grace continues to echo the story of redemption and hope.

Reference: Feel free to share but please cite hymnsforworship.org when reproducing.

Introductions for Sabbath School Song Service (based on specific lesson quarterlies):

God’s willingness to forgive His people even though they have sinned and done evil. In one sense, we see here a powerful illustration of the gospel, of sinful people who have no merit of their own, nevertheless seeking grace that they don’t deserve and for forgiveness that they haven’t earned. (Lesson 10, 1st Quarter 2020 – Sunday, An Appeal to Grace, 3/2/2020)

John Newton (1725-1807) never ceased to thank God for His saving grace in transforming him from a slave captain, and later a slave himself, to a Christian minister. In this hymn, originally of six stanzas appearing in the Olney Hymns, 1779, and title “Faith’s Review and Expectation,” he emphasizes the grace of God that he himself experienced. The hymn is his personal testimony, based on David’s humble remarks recorded in 1 Chronicles 17:16,17: “Who am I, Lord God, and what is mine house…? Thou hast…regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O Lord God.”

The final stanza often associated with this hymn, beginning “When we’ve been there ten thousand years,” is not Newton’s. Erroneously attributed to a John Rees in some books and in first printings of SDAH, it was anonymous as a final stanza to “Jerusalem, My Happy Home” in Baptist Songster, 1829, compiled by R. Winchell in Connecticut. E.O. Excell seems to be the first to put this stanza with Newton’s hymn in his Coronation Hymns, 1910.

The tune NEW BRITAIN (or HARMONY GROVE or AMAZING GRACE) is of unknown origin. Its earliest publication in America was in Virginia Harmony, 1831, by James Carrell and David Clayton. After this is was picked up by most of the shaped-note, oblong tune books and became a great favorite at camp meetings and singing conventions. The tune is in the pentatonic scale, leaving out the the fourth and seventh notes. George Pullen Jackson, is his Spiritual Folk Songs of Early America, documents a version he heard sung with florid grace notes in every measure. The popularity of this tune through the highlighted in 1972 when a recording, without the words, was made by the band of the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards, a British regiment stationed in Germany; 375,000 copies sold in a short time in Britain. Folk singer Judy Collins also made a hit record of this song at about the same time.

The SDAH arrangement is by Robert J. Batistini, who, at this writing, is president of the Hymn Society of America. For 30 years he has been a church organist / musician; for 20 of those years, he has served at St. Barbara’s Catholic Church in the Chicago suburb of Brookfield, Illinois, where he has developed five choirs, 17 cantors, and a music staff of eight. A Vice President and general editor of GIA Publications of Chicago, he is a member of the North American Academy of Liturgy and was largely responsible for the editing of the Catholic hymnal Worship II, 1975. A conductor, speaker, and clinician throughout North America, he is the author of numerous articles on church music for The Hymn and other magazines.

Text

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
The Lord has promised good to me,
his word my hope secures;
he will my shield and portion be,
as long as life endures.

4
Through many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
’tis grace hath brought me safe thus far,
and grace will lead me home.

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 first begun.

Hymn Info

Biblical Reference
(a) 1 Chron 17:16; Luke 15:6 (b) Eph 1:7 (d) Ps 142:5

Author
John Newton (1725-1807); St. 5, Anon.

Year Published
1779

Hymn Tune
NEW BRITAIN

Metrical Number
C.M.

Arranger
Robert J. Batastini (1942-)

Tune Source
Virginia Harmony, 1831

Copyright
Arr. copyright by GIA Publications, Inc. Used by permission.

Theme
GRACE & MERCY OF GOD

A Slaver From Disgrace to Amazing Grace

Amazing Grace has gone on to become one of the most powerful songs in the world and a favorite hymn for many because it offers up a universal message of hope and redemption. Some people argue that part of the huge appeal of the hymn is the incredible backstory that brought it to life. John Newton went from being a cruel slave trader to a highly respected minister. Yet although many people don’t know the songs backstory before hearing it, the appeal is really in the message of the song because it can be applied to anyone’s life.