Amazing Grace
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.
'Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears reliev'd;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believ'd!
Thro' many dangers, toils, and snares,
I have already come;
'Tis grace has brought me safe thus far,
And grace will lead me home.
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.
Yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
And mortal life shall cease;
I shall possess, within the veil,
A life of joy and peace.
This earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But God, who call'd me here below,
Will be for ever mine.
Faith's Review and Expectation. Olney Hymn # 41, vol. 1.The words were written c. 1772. They first appeared in print in Newton's Olney Hymns, 1779 that he worked on with William Cowper.EXTRA Verses: "When we've been there ten thousand yearsBright shining as the sun.We’ve no less days to sing God’s praiseThan when we’ve first begun."The first known use of this verse is by Harriet Beecher Stowe, in her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin. It may have been taken from another hymn. This verse is part of most hymnals today.~~"Oh, crime and virtue, virtue and crime! - it was old John Newton, I think, who, when he saw a man going to be hanged, said, 'There goes John Newton, but for the grace of God!'" ~ from the novel, 'Lavengro', by George Borrow.For more information, see www.snopes.com/religion/amazing.asp