April Hymn of the Month
To find the lyrics - we will use the Trinity Hymnal version - Here is a link
Hymn Story
Charles Wesley, a well known English hymn-writer, wrote this hymn as a celebration of becoming a Christian. He lived in the 1700s and often travelled with his brother John preaching and singing hymns as a way to share the good news of the Lord Jesus.
This hymn was first printed in his brother’s hymnal ‘Hymns and sacred poems’. It first had the title of ‘Free Grace’. Of the 6,500 hymns Charles Wesley wrote this is perhaps his most loved one and is sung all over the world.
Like a woodworker has a box with all the different tools he needs to make things a poet has different ‘tools’ they use to write lyrics. They use the tools of rhyme and rhythm. They ask questions. Look at the first line of this hymn - And can it be that I should gain? Wesley uses this to draw us in to his amazement at God’s grace. They use comparing and describing words to better tell what they see and know and feel. In this lyric Wesley compares following Christ to being as if he was set free from the chains of a prison cell.
He is trying to draw us in to a great story of rescue but even more, to encourage us to join him and make it our story too!
Published first on the Ghetty website