Wednesday, November 19, 2008

A Wretch Like Me

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saveth men like me...

Wait a minute. What?! Those are the strange words I was surprised to see last Sunday in the familiar hymn: whoever compiled the hymnal took the liberty of changing the line "that saved a wretch like me" to "that saveth men like me."

Can we really not handle the truth that we are wretches? Are we so full of ourselves, so sick with pride, that we cannot even sing the word? If I am not wretched, the grace is less amazing. It took some amazing, amazing grace to save a wretch like me--because believe me, I am a wretch, without Jesus. In fact, let's be honest: I am still a wretch with Jesus.

Amazing grace, how sweet the sound
That saved a wretch like me!

3 comments:

Eric S. said...

What hymnal was it!?

Unknown said...

Amen to that. We all are wretched. Praise God for his saving grace!

Amy said...

I believe it was The Brethren Hymnal (Church of the Brethren denomination).