1. How sweet the Name of Jesus sounds
In a believer’s ear!
It soothes his sorrow, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear,
And drives away his fear,
And drives away his fear,
It soothes his sorrow, heals his wounds,
And drives away his fear.
2. It makes the wounded spirit whole,
And calms the troubled breast;
’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary rest,
And to the weary rest,
And to the weary rest,
’Tis manna to the hungry soul,
And to the weary rest.
3. Dear Name! the Rock on which we build;
Our shield and hiding-place;
Our never-failing treasury, filled
With boundless stores of grace,
With boundless stores of grace,
With boundless stores of grace,
Our never-failing treasury, filled
With boundless stores of grace.
4. Jesus, our Savior, Shepherd, Friend,
Our Prophet, Priest, and King;
Our Lord, our Life, our Way, our End,
Accept the praise we bring,
Accept the praise we bring,
Accept the praise we bring,
Our Lord, our Life, our Way, our End,
Accept the praise we bring.
5. Weak is the effort of our heart,
And cold our warmest thought;
But when we see Thee as Thou art,
We’ll praise Thee as we ought,
We’ll praise Thee as we ought,
We’ll praise Thee as we ought,
But when we see Thee as Thou art,
We’ll praise Thee as we ought.
6. Till then we would Thy love proclaim
With every fleeting breath;
And triumph in that blessed Name
Which quells the pow’r of death,
Which quells the pow’r of death,
Which quells the pow’r of death,
And triumph in that blessed Name
Which quells the pow’r of death.
This song is very raw, very simple—just like John Newton’s life when he was younger. He was very rebellious, in a way that broadly impacted him to experience the vulnerability, fragility, and weakness of a human soul. When a person has been brought to such a low point of his human life, there is no pride or accomplishment to get in the way. During that early stage of his life, John Newton was completely bankrupt in his humanity. It made his being more tangible, truthful and direct in touching the Lord. So his hymn doesn’t require any mental effort to understand, but it does require your raw being. It can bring you to tears, especially if you are able to sing this song in the right rhythm and tune, but it’s not because it is emotional—it’s because it touches the fundamental part of our being with its bold and raw nature.
This song also brings us back to our own experiences of how real the Lord was to us when He was traveling alongside us in our youth. At every step of our failure, the Lord was there. In every tangible moment when we needed the Lord, the Lord was there. It doesn’t matter whether we are in a low or high place, the Lord is always the romantic one. And He is also the tangible one. For us, the straightforward impression of the song is that the Lord is always available. When you think you don’t need Him, you will never experience what John Newton did. But when you are brought into a broken condition, then suddenly you realize that you are very vulnerable. At that moment the Lord is right there; you realize He has always been there. And surprisingly, the Lord is always ahead of you, waiting to be available for you. Even before you ask, you find that the Lord is ready to pick you up—He gives us that kind of availability.
You don’t need to be strong in these days. You don’t need to always know what you are doing. You don’t have to know every step of the way. You don’t have to always be in control. Maybe this is the time to let the Lord be in control. Let the Lord touch your being. This is very important. Don’t let yourself replace the Lord. We need John Newton’s experiences and that kind of realness during these troubled times, so that He can really come to our life, heal our wounds, and also bring us out of our fear. He can surely calm our troubled heart and make our broken spirit whole again. He can surely feed us when we are hungry in our soul, knowing that He is the Rock upon which we have been built. He is our shield. He is our hiding place. He is our never-failing treasury, filled with boundless stores of grace. When we go to Him, it’s always gracious. There, grace overflows like water. Jesus is our savior. Jesus is our shepherd. Jesus is our friend, our prophet, our priest, our king, our Lord, our life, our way, our end. Turning to Him is our life, our way, and also our end. Lord, may You accept our praise to You.
The progression of this song not only traces our experience, but also ushers us into the coming age. Stanza one to stanza five is representing today, but stanza six stands alone in a different era: the Lord’s second coming. He surely is our hope. This love is the love that we will proclaim on that day. He will be the triumph, the victory we will have when He comes. He will take away the power of death when He returns. What an encouraging song. What an encouraging message to those believers’ ears. Call on the Lord’s name. He is available. The Lord’s sweet name ushered John Newton into that sweet presence. With that sweet presence, he was transformed into another person. Do not be busy. You need to have the Lord’s very sweet person—His whisper. His speaking to you should always be ringing in your ear. We need that presence; it’s a sweet anointing that we can have. We enjoy this song, and hope you can, also.
(Above are notes of fellowship taken from a gathering on 4/17/2020, not reviewed by the speaker.)