Amazing Grace – Hymn
Words: John New¬ton,
Music: James P. Car¬rell and Da¬vid S. Clay¬ton (1831).
This is prob¬ab¬ly the most pop¬u¬lar hymn in the Eng¬lish lan¬guage (a tel¬e¬vi¬sion doc¬u¬ment¬ary was ev¬en made about it). Per¬haps it is be¬cause its words so well de¬scribe the au¬thor: John New¬ton was a slave trad¬er be¬fore com¬ing to Christ. It was sung at the fun¬er¬al of Amer¬i¬can pre¬si¬dent Ron¬ald Rea¬gan.
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. Through many dangers, toil and snares,
I have already come;
‘Tis grace that brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
4. Yes, when this heart and flesh shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
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’ve first begun.
