mgpcpastor's blog

Sunday seems to be a good day to talk about songs.
I know plenty of songs, old and new, but here is an old hymn I did not know that suddenly seems to be enjoying a resurgence of popularity. I like to think I know lots of good songs, so it’s a pleasant surprise to learn something new which is actually old. Today’s hymn is ‘I Stand Amazed’ by Charles H Gabriel.
The words and lyrics of ‘My Saviour’s Love’ or ‘I Stand Amazed’ were composed by the prolific hymn writer Charles H Gabriel. Look him up on wikipedia or some other form of internet research.
Gabriel lived from 1856 till 1932 and wrote or composed thousands of hymns or tunes. One of his popular gospel tunes is ‘His Eye Is On The Sparrow’.
Anyway, I’ve run into ‘I Stand Amazed’ at our local citywide gatherings and last week’s SMBC preaching conference. We’ve been singing it on Sunday nights for a while at mgpc. Chris Tomlin, a popular contemporary song leader and composer has apparently reintroduced the song to the church.
So, here are the words: (452 in my copy of Great Hymns of the Faith)
1.
I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.
Refrain:
How marvelous! How wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
How marvelous! How wonderful
Is my Savior’s love for me!
2.
For me it was in the garden
He prayed: “Not My will, but Thine.”
He had no tears for His own griefs,
But sweat-drops of blood for mine.
(Refrain)
3.
In pity angels beheld Him,
And came from the world of light
To comfort Him in the sorrows
He bore for my soul that night.
(Refrain)
4.
He took my sins and my sorrows,
He made them His very own;
He bore the burden to Calvary,
And suffered and died alone.
(Refrain)
5.
When with the ransomed in glory
His face I at last shall see,
’twill be my joy through the ages
To sing of His love for me.
(Refrain)

It is a good song to sing. The lyric is well grounded in scriptural truth, spelling out our need, the human dimension and divine power of Christ’s work of redemption and our future hope. The refrain is positive without undue sentimentality. Our great and enduring objective testimony is Christ’s love for us. While it is a testimony, it is a Christ centered one.

Here is a youtube rendition of Chris Tomlin singing the song. Like a lot of contemporary folk leading old songs, I think he leads it a tad slow, but that’s a matter of taste. The clip has a nice picture of cats. I don’t think the cats are significant, but I like cats.