John Newton's great hymn as found in his hymnal produced at Olney Church in England, where he was pastor, pointed to the following verses as his scripture inspiration for the hymn. "And David the king came and sat before the LORD, and said, Who am I, O LORD God, and what is mine house, that thou hast brought me hitherto? And yet this was a small thing in thine eyes, O God; for thou hast also spoken of thy servant's house for a great while to come, and hast regarded me according to the estate of a man of high degree, O LORD God" (1Chronicles 17:16,17). Truly God has done the same for each of us that He has designed to save, bringing us, unworthy sinners, to a place of exaltation, and has made us kings and priests before Him --truly Amazing Grace!
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.
’Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
And grace my fears relieved;
How precious did that grace appear,
The hour I first believed!
Through 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 promised 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.
The earth shall soon dissolve like snow,
The sun forbear to shine;
But GOD, who called me here below,
Will be for ever mine.
(In later hymnbooks the following verse written by an unknown person was added. Most modern hymnals only have four verses, including this one as the last verse).
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’d first begun.
(Some say these additional verses were part of Newton’s original “Amazing Grace”, but the Olney hymnal has them as “In Evil Long I took Delight”. Certainly not as well known as “Amazing Grace”, in fact it is almost obscure today. Same cadence and meter as AG).
In evil long I took delight
Unawed by shame or fear;
'Til a new object met my sight,
And stopped my wild career.
I saw One hanging on a tree,
In agonies and blood;
Who fixed His languid eyes on me
As near His cross I stood.
Sure, never 'til my latest breath,
Can I forget that look
It seemed to charge me with His death
Though not a word He spoke.
My conscience owned and felt the guilt,
And plunged me in despair;
I saw my sins His blood had shed,
And helped to nail Him there.
Alas, I knew not what I did,
But all my tears were vain;
Where could my trembling soul be hid,
For I the Lord had slain!
(Here is some good information on the verses) http://www.gospelweb.net/JohnNewton/amazingwords.htm
(For more see http://www.cyberhymnal.org/htm/a/m/a/amazing_grace.htm
