John Newton’s earliest memories were of his godly mother, who devoted herself to nurturing his soul despite his fragile health. At her knee, he memorized Bible passages and hymns. Though she died when he was about seven, he later recalled her tearful prayers for him.

After her death, John alternated between boarding school and the high seas. Pressed into service with the British Navy, he deserted, was captured, and flogged. More voyages, dangers, toils, and snares followed. It was a life unrivaled in fiction, as he eventually became the slave of a slave in Africa.

Then, on the night of March 9, 1748, John, 23, was jolted awake aboard a ship by a brutal storm. He cried to the Lord in great peril and began a slow spiritual journey that eventually transformed his life. The next several years were ones of slow, halting progress. Still, in the end, John Newton became one of the most potent evangelical preachers in British history, a powerful foe of slavery and the slave trade, and the author of hundreds of hymns.

“Amazing Grace” is his hymn of testimony, originally written to accompany a New Year’s Day sermon Newton preached on January 1, 1773, from the text 1 Chronicles 17:16-17. “I once was lost,” he said, “but now am found; was blind, but now I see.”

Hymns are distillations of the wealthiest truths of God, versified, emotionalized, set to music, and released in the mind and from the mouth. They’re miniature Bible studies that lead us effortlessly to worship, testimony, exhortation, prayer, and praise. They’re bursts of devotional richness with rhyme and rhythm. They clear our minds, soothe our nerves, verbalize our worship, summarize our faith, and sing our great Redeemer’s praise.

Everyone should have a hymnbook on their desk and a song of praise in their hearts. Lots of good music will improve our moods, but the great hymns of the faith will fill our hearts with the truths of God and lift our spirits in praise