I will exalt you, Lord,
    for you lifted me out of the depths
    and did not let my enemies gloat over me.
2 Lord my God, I called to you for help,
    and you healed me.
3 You, Lord, brought me up from the realm of the dead;
    you spared me from going down to the pit.

4 Sing the praises of the Lord, you his faithful people;
    praise his holy name.
5 For his anger lasts only a moment,
    but his favour lasts a lifetime;
weeping may stay for the night,
    but rejoicing comes in the morning.

6 When I felt secure, I said,
    ‘I shall never be shaken.’
7 Lord, when you favoured me,
    you made my royal mountain stand firm;
but when you hid your face,
    I was dismayed.

8 To you, Lord, I called;
    to the Lord I cried for mercy:
9 ‘What is gained if I am silenced,
    if I go down to the pit?
Will the dust praise you?
    Will it proclaim your faithfulness?
10 Hear, Lord, and be merciful to me;
    Lord, be my help.’

11 You turned my wailing into dancing;
    you removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy,
12 that my heart may sing your praises and not be silent.
    Lord my God, I will praise you for ever. NIVUK

I have just finished reading a short biography of John Newton who, prior to his conversion, was a decadent, blaspheming seaman. He eventually became the captain of a slave trading ship. He wrote many hymns after coming to Christ, but ‘Amazing grace’ is his most famous. It became his life theme. He never lost sight of ”the depths” of depravity from which he had been lifted, and it is said that this made him most tender, kind and gentle in all his dealings with people. He knew deeply that he was a debtor to mercy alone.

The epitaph he wrote for himself contains these lines:

‘John Newton, Clerk, once an infidel and libertine, a servant of slaves in Africa, was by the rich mercy of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ preserved, restored, pardoned and appointed to preach the faith he had long laboured to destroy.’

Here is a further example of his humility:

‘Whoever is truly humbled — will not be easily angry, nor harsh or critical of others. He will be compassionate and tender to the infirmities of his fellow-sinners, knowing that if there is a difference — it is grace alone which has made it! He knows that he has the seeds of every evil in his own heart. And under all trials and afflictions — he will look to the hand of the Lord, and lay his mouth in the dust, acknowledging that he suffers much less than his iniquities have deserved.’

Towards the end of his life he said:

Although my memory’s fading, I remember two things very clearly: I am a great sinner and Christ is a great Saviour.’

PRAYER: Lord, enable me to always remember, and live in the light of, the greatness of salvation. May I never lose the wonder of your ‘amazing grace’.