Let Us Love, And Sing, And Wonder
Let Us Love, and Sing, and Wonder
Let us love, and sing, and wonder,
Let us praise the Savior’s name!
He has hushed the Law’s loud thunder,
He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame;
He has washed us with His blood,
He has brought us nigh to God.
Let us love the Lord who bought us,
Pitied us when enemies,
Called us by His grace, and taught us,
Gave us ears, and gave us eyes:
He has washed us with His blood,
He presents our souls to God.
Let us sing, though fierce temptations
Threaten hard to bear us down!
For the Lord, our strong salvation,
Holds in view the conqu’ror’s crown,
He who washed us with His blood,
Soon will bring us home to God.
Let us wonder; grace and justice
Join, and point to mercy’s store;
When through grace in Christ our trust is,
Justice smiles and asks no more:
He who washed us with His blood,
Has secured our way to God.
Let us praise, and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high;
Here they trusted Him before us,
Now their praises fill the sky:
“Thou hast washed us with Thy blood;
Thou art worthy, Lamb of God!”
MUCH HAS BEEN MADE of John Newton’s move from the slave trade to the church. It was a turnaround that rivaled that of the apostle Paul, and Newton always recognized the depths of sin from which he had come. The “wretch like me” in “Amazing Grace” (March 17) was no exaggeration. Newton knew that he had sinned greatly; he also knew the greatness of God’s redeeming grace.
This hymn, however, comes from later years, when Newton was a renowned preacher. It is rich with theology and biblical images. Christ has “hushed the Law’s loud thunder,” says Newton, evoking images of Mount Sinai.
Grace and justice join in Christ, says Newton. Normally these two words don’t belong in the same sentence, but when our trust is in Christ’s righteousness, both are satisfied—“justice smiles and asks no more.”
[Christ is] the ruler of all the kings of the world. All glory to him who loves us and has freed us from our sins by shedding his blood for us. He has made us a Kingdom of priests for God his Father. All glory and power to him forever and ever! Amen.
Revelation 1:5-6
From the book
