How Sweet the Name of Jesus Sounds

Lyrics

How sweet the name of Jesus sounds
in a believer's ear!
It soothes his sorrows, heals his wounds,
and drives away his fear.

It makes the wounded spirit whole,
and calms the troubled breast;
'tis manna to the hungry soul,
and to the weary rest.

Dear name! the rock on which I build,
my shield and hiding-place,
my never-failing treasury filled
with boundless stores of grace.

Jesus! my Shepherd, Husband, Friend,
my Prophet, Priest, and King,
my Lord, my Life, my Way, my End,
accept the praise I bring.

Weak is the effort of my heart,
and cold my warmest thought;
but when I see thee as thou art,
I'll praise thee as I ought.

’Till then I would thy love proclaim
with every fleeting breath;
and may the music of thy name
refresh my soul in death.

History

John Newton published this hymn, headed 'The Name of Jesus', in the Olney Hymns of 1779, the collection he produced with his friend William Cowper. Newton named Song of Solomon 1:3 as its inspiration, comparing the name of Jesus to perfume, and the hymn meditates on the name of Jesus as the believer's comfort: it soothes sorrow, heals wounds and drives away fear, and becomes the rock on which faith is built. Of its original seven stanzas, the fourth is nearly always omitted. Newton's original line 'my Shepherd, Husband, Friend', sung in this recording, is often changed by hymnal editors to 'Guardian' or 'Brother'. Hymnary.org lists tunes including ST. PETER and ORTONVILLE.

Newton was born in London on 24 July 1725. His mother died when he was seven, and in his eleventh year he went to sea with his father, a sea captain. He was later ill-treated under a slave-dealer in Africa and afterwards himself became captain of a slave ship. A night spent steering a water-logged vessel in 1748, together with his reading of Thomas à Kempis, set him on the road to faith. He became a tide-surveyor in Liverpool and in 1764 was ordained to the curacy of Olney in Buckinghamshire, where his lifelong friendship with Cowper began. From 1780 until his death he was rector of St Mary Woolnoth in London, where he died on 21 December 1807.

Performance

This recording by St Martin's Voices runs to a little over two and a half minutes: a short organ introduction leads into six verses.

Sources: hymnary.org · St Martin's Voices recording and Words book (Words_for_Hymns_for_the_5th_Sunday_of_Easter_Rw5lDMF.docx): 'John Newton (1725-1807)', '(Public Domain)'