sue c. smith, songwriter
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“A poet is, before anything else, a person who is passionately in love with language.” 
W.H. Auden

Write Sue

And Can It Be That I Should Gain

4/16/2014

 
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I need to apologize to Charles Wesley. Travis and David and I wanted to use his great hymn "And Can It Be That I Should Gain" in our Easter musical Jesus, Only Jesus. We added a new chorus and a new verse, and we tweaked just a few words to make them more accessible to a 2014 audience. If I had read this first, however, I'm not sure I would have. In the preface to a 1779 collection of hymns, Wesley wrote:

"I beg leave to men­tion a thought which has been long up­on my mind, and which I should long ago have in­sert­ed in the pub­lic pa­pers, had I not been un­will­ing to stir up a nest of horn­ets. Ma­ny gen­tle­men have done my bro­ther and me (though with­out nam­ing us) the hon­our to re­print ma­ny of our hymns. Now they are per­fect­ly wel­come to do so, pro­vid­ed they print them just as they are. But I de­sire they would not at­tempt to mend them, for they are real­ly not able. None of them is able to mend ei­ther the sense or the verse. There­fore, I must beg of them these two fa­vours: ei­ther to let them stand just as they are, to take things for bet­ter or worse, or to add the true read­ing in the mar­gin, or at the bot­tom of the page, that we may no long­er be ac­count­a­ble ei­ther for the non­sense or for the dog­ger­el of other men."

I hope when I meet him in Heaven, he's not ticked off at me. Maybe I'll tell him it was David and Travis's idea. For the sake of clarity, here is Charles Wesley's original, beautiful lyric:

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior’s blood?
Died He for me, who caused His pain--
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?
Amazing love! How can it be,
That Thou, my God, shouldst die for me?

’Tis mystery all: th’Immortal dies:
Who can explore His strange design?
In vain the firstborn seraph tries
To sound the depths of love divine.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore,
Let angel minds inquire no more.
’Tis mercy all! Let earth adore;
Let angel minds inquire no more.

He left His Father’s throne above
So free, so infinite His grace--
Emptied Himself of all but love,
And bled for Adam’s helpless race:
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!
’Tis mercy all, immense and free,
For O my God, it found out me!

Long my imprisoned spirit lay,
Fast bound in sin and nature’s night;
Thine eye diffused a quickening ray--
I woke, the dungeon flamed with light;
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.
My chains fell off, my heart was free,
I rose, went forth, and followed Thee.

Still the small inward voice I hear,
That whispers all my sins forgiven;
Still the atoning blood is near,
That quenched the wrath of hostile Heaven.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.
I feel the life His wounds impart;
I feel the Savior in my heart.

No condemnation now I dread;
Jesus, and all in Him, is mine;
Alive in Him, my living Head,
And clothed in righteousness divine,
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.
Bold I approach th’eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own.



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    sue c. smith

    • Staff songwriter for Universal/Capitol CMG Publishing
    • Writer of 9 #1 songs
    • Winner of 5 Dove Awards
    • AGM Songwriter of the Year, 2013
    • AGM Song of the Year, 2012, and AGM Progressive Song of the Year, 2012
    • Diamond Award, Song of the Year, 2010
    • Writer/Creator of more than 50 musicals sung in churches around the world
    • Founder/Director of the Write About Jesus Workshop for Christian Songwriters, since 2000
    Internationally known songwriting teacher and mentor


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Photo used under Creative Commons from Brett L.