Amazing Grace for Manasseh and Me

Some of you may be familiar with the background to the hymn “Amazing Grace.” It was written by an Anglican pastor named John Newton in the late 1700s. The hymn is about John Newton’s own life experience. Before he was an Anglican pastor, he was a man who gave very little thought to God. After leaving the British Royal Navy, he became involved in the business of slave trading – transporting men, women, and children from Africa to America to sell them as slaves.In 1748, at the age of 23, Newton was involved in a storm at sea that was so violent he thought he was going to die. He prayed to God for mercy, not only from the storm but from his sins. God spared Newton’s life. Newton went on to study Christian theology and eventually became an opponent of slavery. God saving him from his wretched sins is the “Amazing Grace” that Newton writes about.Our text this morning also gives us an example of God’s amazing grace for a wretched sinner. Listen to the great sins of King Manasseh and God’s grace which was even greater in 2 Chronicles 33, verses 9 through 16.