I’ve been exploring some of the very modern worship songs as an old guy 😀. But now, I’ve decided to alternate between very modern hymns, old hymns, and in-between hymns, namely the worship songs from the 60s to the 90s that feature in hymnbooks such as Mission Praise. Today it’s the turn of the old hymns.
Today’s song is How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds from 1779.
1 How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
in a believer’s ear!
It soothes our sorrows, heals our wounds,
and drives away our fear.
2 It makes the wounded spirit whole
and calms the troubled breast;
’tis manna to the hungry soul,
and to the weary, rest.
3 O Jesus, shepherd, guardian, friend,
my Prophet, Priest, and King,
my Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
accept the praise I bring.
4 How weak the effort of my heart,
how cold my warmest thought;
but when I see you as you are,
I’ll praise you as I ought.
5 Till then I would your love proclaim
with every fleeting breath;
and may the music of your name
refresh my soul in death.
The hymn was written by John Newton (1725-1807), the former slave trader who later became an Anglican minister and abolitionist. He is best known for writing Amazing Grace. I didn’t see any visual performances from posh English or Irish churches on YouTube 😀. I do remember singing that hymn regularly over the years, though my churches weren’t particularly posh 😀.
It was nice to find a performance from a lady from Africa or with roots in Africa. So many nations gained their independence from Western dominance. But people stuck with Jesus – and many of these nations have far more evangelical Christians than Europe has. And many are now evangelizing Europe. It would have been awful if they had rejected Christianity and seen it as a “European” religion. Well, it originated in the middle east and North Africa anyway – and ultimately in heaven itself.
I love verse 4:
4 How weak the effort of my heart,
how cold my warmest thought;
but when I see you as you are,
I’ll praise you as I ought.
Here are some other versions:
