July 24, 2023 - Good Morning! It's Monday, July 24.
On this day in 1725, a boy was born in England. His father was a ship's captain. His mother died when he was six, and at the young age of 11, his father took him to sea. He, too, eventually came to captain a ship, a slave ship. Later he would share the testimony of a storm on the sea that came one night, a night when John Newton experienced a life-changing spiritual conversion.
Newton left the sea and became a pastor. He would often write poems to accompany his sermons. In 1773, at a New Year's Day service, he read a composition that he titled "Faith's Review and Expectation". John Newton was not a musician, and it was most probably chanted, not sung.
Interest in the poem soon waned in England, and Newton became known, not as a hymn writer, but as a leader in the abolitionist movement. He died in 1807, just weeks before Britain outlawed the slave trade. Around this same time, a spiritual movement, called the Second Great Awakening, began in the young country called The United States of America. And Newton's poem, joined with an old folk melody, gave voice to this revival.
In 1835, the poem, set to music, was published in a shaped-note hymnal called Southern Harmony. The editor used its first two words as the title, and Amazing Grace was reborn. It has gone on to become the most recognized song in the English language. The lyrics, an autobiography of John Newton's amazing life, continue to inspire us today. Here are the words of a verse that is left out of many modern hymnals.
The Lord has promised good to me
His Word, my heart secures
He will my shield and portion be
As long as life endures
Meet you back here tomorrow,
Bro. David
dmathis@fbccenter.org
