April 21, 2007
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Me and my friend Sam got together and recorded a few more songs (you might recall the acoustic bit I put up a few months ago).
No notes, no chords, no lyrics, just a couple of guys with guitars, here’s our version of Amazing Grace…
[Chorus is from Chris Tomlin's verion of Amazing Grace.]
It’s long, and it’s unplanned. Sam and I kept surprising (and confusing) each other, so there’s a few sticky spots. You’ve been warned.
Oh yeah, and the part near the end where the music totally breaks down into a little tapping rythm was completely improvised by Sam…and then the laughter during the next chorus is Sam’s amazement that I actually brought it back into the song…haha. We have way to much fun.
‘Twas grace that taught my heart to fear,
and grace my fears relieved…Alethos mentioned this in a recent post, and I thought it was worth commenting on. What do you understand these lyrics to be saying? What theological implications does that have?
I think it’s conveying something that’s not often talked about. What fear would you learn by grace, but also be relieved of by grace? I’m thinking it’s the fear of God’s wrath. It’s only by God’s grace that we understand anything, especially the things of God — so a fear of His wrath is really only learned by grace. Fortunately, that isn’t all His grace does for us. His grace, having taught us fear and brought us to despair, frees us from fear for the worship of the gracious King! Amazing grace, indeed!
Comments (12)
I think it’s the fear of the Lord (that is, reverence or respect). In our sinful state, the glory of His righteousness is a frightful thing to behold- He is so good that we are literally damned. But when we are brought into salvation, His holiness suddenly becomes the wonderful thing by which we are made righteous- the same perfection that damned us is the only thing that can save us, and thus our fears are relieved.
I like what you said, and what Rachael said, and no way could I say either one better.
Very nice recording.
you did a great job with this.
i really miss being in a musical group. though it was definitely a different genre than this.
i played rhythm guitar and did vocals in a punk rock group.
About a year ago I thought of the same thing, “what does that line mean?? I came to the same conclusion you did. His grace is a beautiful thing.
Oh Caleb, sometimes I think that you willfully misunderstand people. Let me see if I can rephrase: The song says, “Twas grace that taught my heart to fear, and grace my fears relieved.” His righteousness/holiness and our inability to come anywhere close is what condemns us, and grace relieves us of that fearful (as in “terrible”) condemnation. That same grace now teaches us to fear (fear as in “revere” or “respect”, not “be afraid of”) the Lord.
Love your display picture!
Hey, do you still need that youth trip money?
I like your voice btw. =]
Nice rendition of the song. Your site is looking great BTW. So, I don’t quite know if I have really wrapped my mind around the whole fear of the Lord yet. I definitely understand what Rachel is saying but I do think that reverence and a healthy fear might be understood in the same context. I think that we might argue semantics in this regard. I fear being burnt by the fire so I don’t touch it and I have a reverence for the fire because I understand its burning affects. I fear God because of His great and awesome power. I also revere Him because I understand His holiness and how efficacious His grace is in my life. Either way I am relieved of the fear of His eternal punishment for my sins because His grace now covers me because of Jesus Christ.
Romans 2:4 poses the question: “Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?” I think the line you quote here from “Amazing Grace” is the right answer to the question.
that’s my fav hymn ever. especially keeping in mind who John Newton was and how God managed to change his life. just totally amazing.
Z
i think of fear as a reverence..because it says was grace that taught…if it were tremble fear grace would not provide such because grace requires honesty/truth in order to manifest reverence. does this make sense…i just got home from work.
fears relieved…no wrath, eternity with the Lord, peace, unbounding love, i could go on…but i will save you the agony
There was something magical about this rendition. A good, genial spirit to it. Those weren’t sticky spots; those were charming features. Bravo!