I like to slow this one down when I sing it at home. Verses 2 and 3 sometimes bring tears to my eyes. Read this one slowly, and allow the beautiful message to stir your soul!
I Stand Amazed in the Presence (My Saviour’s Love) by Charles H. Gabriel
I stand amazed in the presence
Of Jesus the Nazarene,
And wonder how He could love me,
A sinner, condemned, unclean.
Refrain
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
And my song shall ever be:
O how marvelous! O how wonderful!
Is my Savior’s love for me!
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
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
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
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
Moore to ponder said,
July 13, 2010 at 5:09 am
Verse 4, too.
rcottrill said,
August 18, 2010 at 1:51 pm
As you will see from my blog about the hymn this morning on Wordwise Hymns, I absolutely agree with you. Many congregations sing this hymn far too quickly to suit the lyrics. Thanks for adding your voice!
Moore to ponder said,
August 18, 2010 at 2:59 pm
I am so glad that you wrote that to your readers.
My husband and I do that a lot. We will slow them way down and insert pauses, and sing them with a tender reverence, although sometimes with a little hint of blues. Here are some songs that are so moving when sung this way:
“Kneel at The Cross”, “Precious Lord Take my Hand”,and some of the praise choruses like “His Name is Wonderful”, “Majesty”, “There’s Something About That Name”, and “Spirit of the Living God Fall Fresh on Me”. There is also a song that I just love and hope that you will write about it some day, because I do not know a lot about it. It is titled “He Washed My Eyes With Tears”.
I can remember when I first heard “I Stand Amazed in the Presence” I was a member of a church that believed the concept of Security of the Believer was a false teaching. I ended up learning in 1999 that it was a true teaching. I had struggled with assurance for practically all of my life before I finally understood that Believers are Eternally Secure. I remember that it was a very special experience…so profoundly changed me. One day I was in the Laundry room and as I sang these verses below, I paused and just wept as I slowly let the words sink in:
“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.”
Moore to ponder said,
August 18, 2010 at 3:19 pm
We also transpose them. My husband is a baritone in his range, and can falsetto some tenor. I have a low voice for a female. I can sing alto or contralto, first tenor, and a little 2nd tenor. My husband prefers playing in the key of “C” whenever possible, and we just alternate who sings lead and who sings harmony depending on the song. When we sing “Precious Lord Take my Hand” we sing it in “G” , and he sings the melody (lead) and I sing the harmony a 5th above him. My husband said that when we do that the harmony is in 5ths and in minor keys. Then when we sing the last verse he suddenly stops the piano and we finish it Acapella. Everyone loves it when we do that. Our piano is an upright and is almost 100 years old. Even though it needs some repairs and a tuning, it can still make that song sound special to us. 🙂