I’m excited to announce my new song and single, Let Us Love and Sing and Wonder!
This modern hymn based on a text by John Newton is designed for congregational worship and can fit appropriately in a range of worship styles.
Listen using the YouTube link above, or keep reading for resources, lyrics, and the story of how this song came to be.
Resources
The resources below are free to use in local church worship.
Lead sheet (follows the harmonies on the recording)
Chord chart in D (E-flat capo 1)
Acoustic Version:
Lyrics
Let us love and sing and wonder,
Let us praise the Savior’s name.
He has hushed the law’s loud thunder,
He has quenched Mount Sinai’s flame.
He has washed us with his blood;
He has brought us near to God,
He has brought us near to God.
Let us love the Lord who bought us,
Pitied us when enemies,
Called us by his grace and taught us,
Gave us ears and gave us eyes:
He has washed us with his blood;
He presents our souls to God,
He presents our souls to God.
Let us sing, though fierce temptation
Threatens hard to bear us down,
For the Lord, our strong salvation,
Holds in view the Conq’ror’s crown:
He who washed us with his blood
Soon will bring us home to God;
He will bring us home to God.
Let us wonder: grace and justice
Join and point to mercy’s store.
When through grace in Christ our trust is,
Justice smiles and asks no more:
He who washed us with his blood
Has secured our way to God,
Has secured our way to God.
Let us praise, and join the chorus
Of the saints enthroned on high.
Here they trusted him before us,
Now their praises fill the sky:
“You have washed us with your blood;
You are worthy, Lamb of God,
You are worthy, Lamb of God!”
“You have washed us with your blood;
You are worthy, Lamb of God,
You are worthy, Lamb of God!”
Story
I first came across this hymn text in college and was immediately captured by the wonder in John Newton’s poem. The way he weaves Old Testament imagery into a powerful telling of the gospel still speaks beautifully today. But I couldn’t find a tune that seemed to capture this wonder effectively.
I wrote the first draft of this tune in 2007, then mostly forgot about it. Last year an old friend from that era reached out: he’d held onto a copy of this tune for over 15 years but was wondering if I had a version with guitar chords written in. Back then I wouldn’t have thought of including them or even known how to write them out; today I use them regularly. I hand-wrote some chord symbols for him and moved along, but the text and tune kept rattling around in my brain.
Eventually I returned to the tune, reworking it to sing better in church congregations. Then as my church (Faith Church in Milford Ohio) was embarking on a sermon series in Numbers, those of us on the teaching team decided to introduce it as a congregational song. Now I’m sharing it so that other churches, music pastors, and worship leaders might benefit from it.
Joey Hoelscher Music 