A Hymn of Praise - "Let us love, and sing, and wonder"

'Do you see yonder wicket Gate?' Evangelist pointing Christian in Bunyan's Pilgrims Progress to the way of salvation

A Hymn of Praise
"Let us love, and sing, and wonder"

How thankful we ought to be for the many "gifts"and callings that Christ has given to His church for the benefit of all, and the blessing of us all. Concentrating for the present on the great blessings and benefits received through the hymns of praise we sing in the churches of Christ, how we might be thankful for the abilities and skills granted to the hymn writers who warm our hearts and enliven our minds with their words. Reproduced below is one of the hymns of John Newton that might ever find a place in the church's praise.

Let us love, and sing, and wonder
Let us praise the Saviour'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 conq'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 through 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;
Thou hast washed us with Thy blood,
Thou art worthy, Lamb of God.

By any reckoning, a hymn such as this should find a large place in our hearts, for it is the story of our redemption beautifully displayed. But it is the hymn-writer's "skill" and "ability" under God that should catch our eye, and invoke our thanks for such gifts given to some of God's saints. John Newton, with all the others of the same ilk, wrote, first and foremost, what he knew and had experienced in his own heart. With the heart-felt experiences, however, is combined the art, used and sanctified by God, for His own purpose. What we are to note is the way we are led into the story our our redemption , step-by-step, from its beginning to its conclusion in heaven with all the saints.

In the first verse, the theme is set:-

Let us love, and sing, and wonder
Let us praise the Saviour's name;

In the words of scripture, Christ has "redeemed us from the curse of the law." On account of that stupendous fact, then, we are called to - "love , and to "sing ", and to "wonder "; and to "praise the Saviour's name". In the four verses of the hymn that then follow, each verse, in turn, takes up those four directives given to us at the beginning.

Verse 2 - "Let us LOVE the Lord who bought us, Pitied us when enemies."
Verse 3 - "Let us SING , though fierce temptation Threaten hard to bring us down."
Verse 4 - "Let us WONDER ! Grace and Justice Join, and point to mercy's store."
Verse 5 - "Let us PRAISE, AND join the chorus Of the saints enthroned on high," etc.

As the "initial" call, and theme, is set before us in the first verse, so it is developed as the hymn goes along, and all to swell the volume of worship that such a theme demands.

Is there not abundant reason for us to LOVE the Lord - as the One who, "bought us", "pitied us" when we were "enemies", and "called us by His grace", giving us "ears" to hear, and "eyes" to see aright, and be "taught" aright? So the second verse goes. In the light of such assurance of grace to our hearts - freely given and freely bestowed - can we not then, "SING", as the third verse directs us to, even though "fierce temptation threaten hard to bring us down?" And who can but "WONDER", with the "wonder" of the fourth verse, that the "grace and justice" of Almighty God can now "join together" by pointing to "mercy's store?" God shows Himself, "A just God and a Saviour" to us, for - "When, through grace, in Christ our trust is, Justice smiles, and asks no more."

The one verse remaining says it all, then:-

"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;
THOU HAST WASHED US WITH THY BLOOD,
THOU ART WORTHY, LAMB OF GOD."

We are to "love", and "sing", and "wonder"; and we are to "Praise" the Saviour's name. The hymn-writer, in His God granted ability and skill, leads us into a full song of redemption to the praise of Christ. The first four verses speak about what Christ has done for us, by "washing" us with His blood.

In verse 1 - "He has washed us with His blood,
He has brought us nigh to God."
In verse 2, "He has washed us with His blood,
He presents our souls to God."
In verse 3, "He who washed us with His blood,
Soon will bring us home to God."
In verse 4, "He who washed us with His blood,
Has secured our way to God."
No wonder the redeemed of the Lord sing - in heaven and on earth -
Thou hast washed us with Thy blood,
THOU ART WORTHY, LAMB OF GOD."

In this, the whole ransomed church is agreed. As we praise the Lord of our redemption here below, we do "join the chorus of the saints enthroned above." They, too, have been washed through the blood of the Lamb; therefore, the great song of redemption is, "Thou art worthy, Lamb of God". All our thanks is to "Him who loved us, and washed us from our sins in His own blood;" but it is not wrong to render a word of thanks to God also for those whose gifts and callings, under God, enable us to praise Him, with heart, and with voice, and with understanding also.