Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder
I wondered where to start my public foray into Newton’s work.
The more I thought of it, the more plain it became. I’ll start with his hymn, “Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder.”
Here’s the text and a link to my favorite version of the song, and below that, a few thoughts on the hymn.
Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder
Let us love and sing and wonder,
let us praise the Savior’s name!
He has hushed the law’s loud thunder,
he has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame:
he has washed us with his blood,
he has brought us nigh to God.
Let us love the Lord who bought us,
pitied us when enemies,
called us by his grace and taught us,
gave us ears and gave us eyes:
he has washed us with his blood,
he presents our souls to God.
Let us sing, though fierce temptation
threaten hard to bear us down!
For the Lord, our strong salvation,
holds in view the conqu’ror’s crown:
he who washed us with his blood
soon will bring us home to God.
Let us wonder; grace and justice
join and point to mercy’s store;
when thro’ grace in Christ our trust is,
justice smiles and asks no more:
he who washed us with his blood
has secured our way to God.
Let us praise, and join the chorus
of the saints enthroned on high;
here they trusted him before us,
now their praises fill the sky:
“You have washed us with your blood;
you are worthy, Lamb of God!”1
My first year at Purdue, I attended a small PCA church plant. I also had some competency at the piano, so I found myself helping with weekly worship, playing piano with the RUF pastor on guitar and singing, and another student on the djembe. And that’s where I was introduced to this hymn.
I’ve been singing this song since then.
I’ve been thinking about why this Newton song has had enduring power in my life, why my heart settled and expanded when I hit play a few weeks ago on the Indelible Grace version on Spotify.
Here’s what I came up with.
It’s invitational. I love God’s posture and bid to Isaiah:
Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. (Isaiah 1:18)
The language of this song bids us to remember God’s invitation of mercy and grace, an invitation I accepted and that defines my life. And in response, I turn to my brothers and sisters of faith and say: “Let us love and sing and wonder.”
It’s communal. Baked into the language of this song is a reminder that God is forming not a collection of individuals but a people for himself. Let us love and sing and wonder. What a gift to not walk this world alone.
It orients faith around affection, worship and awe. When I first heard this song, my faith was oriented around thinking, defending and doing acts of service. Thinking, defending and serving are part of the work of God’s people. I’ll say it again lest someone misinterpret my words. Thinking, defending and serving are part of the work of God’s people.
But I can also say that when my habits were primarily intellectual, work and defensive, my soul and love—love of God and neighbor—was shriveled and malformed. This song called me to a new (to me) ways of being with God and neighbor. When habits of love, song and wonder became the bedrock of my spiritual life, my soul flourished and fruit has followed.
It’s instructional and utilizes gorgeous imagery. Newton wrote his hymns to aid his very own, very humble congregation in their life of faith. He writes this in the introduction to one of hymns books:
Hymns should be “designed for public worship, and for the use of plain people. Perspicuity, simplicity and ease, should be chiefly attended to; and the imagery and coloring of poetry, if admitted at all, should be indulged very sparingly and with great judgement.”2
If you want to spend some time with this hymn, one way to engage the text would be to 1) underline when the hymn instructs the singer and 2) when he uses imagery to develop his point.
I have a hard time pinpointing a favorite verse or line, but here’s what I’ve been turning over in my head the past few weeks: “Let us sing, though fierce temptation / threaten hard to bear us down! /For the Lord, our strong salvation,
holds in view the conqu’ror’s crown.
These days, I’m not playing the music of this song on piano for public worship. But I often find myself hitting play on it in my kitchen while making dinner or in my van while running errands. Newton’s words still minister to me, and the invitation to love, sing and wonder is what fills my life.
https://hymnary.org/text/let_us_love_and_sing_and_wonder
https://victorianweb.org/victorian/religion/hymns/olney.html