Jul 27, 2024

John Newton

Conversion stories fascinate me. Paul was knocked off his horse by a blinding vision on his way to persecute Christians. Lydia, the first convert in Asia, opened her heart to Christ after listening to Paul’s testimony. Augustine came to faith after hearing a child’s voice in a garden. C.S. Lewis decided to follow Christ on his way to a zoo, and Mother Teresa answered Jesus’ call at age twelve on a train.

John Newton’s (1725-1807) awakening was the result of a perilous storm at sea. By age twenty-three, John was already an experienced sailor, having joined his father at sea by age eleven. He lived a degenerate life as a sailor and transported slaves to serve the interests of enslavers in England and America. As he was sleeping below deck one evening aboard the Greyhound, a violent hurricane awakened him, filling his cabin with water. He rushed on deck to work the pumps and shouted to the captain, “If this will not do, the Lord have mercy upon us!” Newton’s own words startled him. “Mercy!” he said to himself in astonishment. He had not given serious thought to God’s mercy since the early days with his mom, who died when John was seven. “Mercy! Mercy!” he thought, “What mercy can there be for me?” After a harrowing night, the storm subsided, and John began to pray for mercy. He spent the remainder of the voyage meditating on Scripture and found help in Jesus’ promise that the Holy Spirit would be given to those who ask (Luke 11.13). A change came over John as he opened his life to receive the Spirit. He left seafaring behind and devoted himself to pastoring two churches in England over a span of forty-three years. He is well known for his hymn “Amazing Grace” (the Library of Congress has three thousand renditions of “Amazing Grace” in its collection). He wrote other poems, such as “Quiet Lord, My Froward Heart,” which was later set to music and included in his hymnbook of Olney Hymns in 1779. His inner struggle with his rebellious heart (froward is an old English word meaning stubborn or rebellious) is evident in his lyrics, as are his frequent childlike images that express vulnerability and dependence upon God:

Quiet Lord, my froward heart, Make me teachable and mild;
Upright, simple, free from art,
Make me as a weaned child;
From distrust and envy-free,
Pleased with all that pleases Thee.

What Thou shalt today provide,
Let me, as a child, receive;
What tomorrow may betide,
Calmly to Thy wisdom leave:
‘Tis enough that Thou wilt care;
Why should I the burden bear?

As a little child relies
On a care beyond his own;
Knows he’s neither strong nor wise;
Fears to stir a step alone;
Let me thus with Thee abide,
As my Father, Guard, and Guide.

Richard Cecil, Memoirs of the Rev. John Newton, 1809, pp. 25-31.

Rev. Dr. Peter James served 42 years as the senior of Vienna Presbyterian Church in Vienna, VA — 21 years in the 20th century and 21 years in the 21st century. He retired in 2021 and now serves as Pastor-in-Residence at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Even as a pastor, prayer came slowly to Pete. Read Pete’s story.