On the Day March 21 1747

By His Amazing Grace

The sailing vessel may be ocean faring but in John Newton’s book, it was so rickety and in abject disrepair that in the stormy sea he was in, he knew he mightn’t stand a chance to survive it. Being a man known to mock God and widely considered impious even by his godless mates, he faced death in the eye.

Khen Lim

Image source: m.washingtontimes.com

The sailing vessel may be ocean faring but in John Newton’s book, it was so rickety and so in desperate need for repairs that the stormy sea he was now in could destroy it without much effort. He even feared he mightn’t stand a chance to survive. Being a man known to mock God and widely considered impious even among his godless mates, he faced imminent death in the eye.

On the night that a violent wave crashed worryingly against the vessel, John Newton awoke to find the ship sailing into the eye of a terrifying storm, looking worse for wear. Timbers were ripped apart like strips of paper being blown away. Water was streaking into the cabin from all directions and the crew were desperately losing the battle to stop the leaks.

John joined in the effort but invariably became too tired to continue. He was then tied to the wheel in a hope that he could steer it and not be thrown overboard. But none of these seemed to help and the situation simply worsened if that were at all possible. The weather became even colder with no hope of getting better.

And in these sparing moments of complete despair, John reflected on his life. When he was aged seven, his Christian mother had taught him to seek the Lord, which he did by learning to fast and pray but somehow he felt that the Lord had eluded him. And in his failure to find Him, he grew cynical and bitter. Still he could not deny that it was God who saved him many times in his past including when he was made servant to the slaves in the west coast of Africa.

Image source: broadway.com

In his heart, John knew Christianity was real and it was the only means that held the truths of life. Yet he could not find solace because of his persistent belief that sins were too overbearing for God to ignore or forgive and so he deigned himself fit only to face His wrath.

Soon enough, the storm abated and ship had resettled and slowly became freed of water.

“I began to pray…to think of that Jesus that I’d so often derided; I recollected His death; a death for sins not His own but as I remembered, for the sake of those who should put their trust in Him.”

On the day he’d remember for the rest of his life, March 21 1747, John understood he needed his Saviour more than ever before.

Even as they continued at sea, John pored over the Bible, reading feverishly through stormy days and nights and praying for guidance while the men struggled on the upper deck to keep the ship apiece.

That time at sea cemented John’s relationship with Christ and though he worked the next six years as a slaver (not realising it a sin), he showed warmth and kindness, conducted worship services and wrote hymns for them to sing and remember Christ by. Once he understood the sin of the trade, he renounced it and worked as an abolitionist and a minister.

Newton's gravestone at Olney, Buckinghamshire (Image source: en.wikipedia.org)

In reflection of his hard life, he put pen to paper and, inspired by God, he authored the most memorable of all hymns in remembrance of how His amazing grace, how sweet that sound that saved a wretch like him.