The word “great” is a simple, and often over-used and under-appreciated word. But how fitting an adjective to describe everything about God! His name is great. His salvation is great. His love is great. His mercy is great. His justice is great. His glory is great. His patience is great. His power is great. His knowledge is great. His creation is great. His majesty is great. On and on we could go with every one of His attributes. Think of applying that descriptive word to the Westminster Shorter Catechism’s classic definition of God in question number 4. “God is a spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in His being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth.” Great wisdom, great power, great holiness, great justice, etc.
Our world and our everyday lives are filled with so many things that are ordinary, mundane, and anything but great. These range from having the same thing for breakfast each morning to having mail delivered to our front yard each day. And not only that, we too often look at truly great things without recognizing just how great they actually are. What about how great it is that there are a dozen different kinds of ice cream at the supermarket. Or that we can drive just a few minutes to get gasoline for our car (even if it has grown much more expensive in the last few years!). Or that we have access to the finest health care in the world, and insurance to pay for it. All of this is because of the greatness of God’s mercy toward us.
We certainly ought to include the wonders of God’s creation in nature around us and above us and within us. The Psalms are filled with references to those displays of God’s grandeur. “The heavens delare the glory of God and the sky above proclaims His handiwork” (Psalm 19:1). And how many of these things that David and others wrote about were so little understood in their day. Today with our scientific instruments we can see so much more, from the awesome rings around Saturn and the enormity of the number of galaxies in the night sky to the intricacies of hearing in the inner ear and the development of cells to form the human eye and connect it to the brain.
The hymn “Great God of Wonders” points us to many of the works of God to which that word applies, but especially to His greatness in the way and the amount of pardoning grace that is freely given to His elect. The words were written by Samuel Davies (1723-1761). Not much is known about the actual writing of the hymn, but Davies was an evangelist and Presbyterian minister. The hymn was published posthumously in 1769. He also served a term as President of Princeton University, then known as the College of New Jersey, from 1759 to 1761, following as one of the successors to Jonathan Edwards. Davies visited England in 1753, on behalf of the college, and there received the degree of M.A.
One of the first non-Anglican preachers in Virginia, he was a strong advocate for religious freedom, serving in a missionary role with slaves, having eventually baptized hundreds in their new faith in Christ, and helped to institute significant religious reforms in the colony. Travelling throughout the countryside on horseback, he preached to thousands, including the slaves, and became so well known that King George II of England asked him to preach at the Royal Chapel in 1753 when he and Gilbert Tennent were in England raising money for the Presbyterian College of New Jersey. Davies was also a prolific writer, authoring sixteen hymns and publishing a book of poetry. Musicologists credit Davies with being the first American-born hymn writer. This hymn, “Great God of Wonders,” is the only hymn from colonial America to survive into common usage. His first wife, Sarah, died from a miscarriage just after a year of marriage, and his second wife, Jane, bore him six children.
Davies was born in New Castle County, Delaware, and named after the Old Testament prophet, Samuel. From his youth, he was exposed to the Reformed faith that he embraced for himself. His parents could not afford to send him to college but were determined that he should be trained for the ministry. He studied in Samuel Blair’s famous school at Faggs Manor, Chester County, Pennsylvania, and was licensed to preach by the Presbytery of New Castle when he was twenty-two. The church continues today as a healthy congregation of the Presbyterian Church in America (PCA), but with a revised name: Manor Presbyterian Church. It is located in a semi-rural area near Cochranville, Pennsylvania between Quarryville and Kennet Square. Originally a log cabin, the building of white stucco over stone still has the old design of a sanctuary upstairs above classroom and fellowship hall below.
Manor Presbyterian Church, previously named Faggs Manor after Sir John Fagge and originally called Londonderry Presbyterian Church, was organized in 1730, making it the third Presbyterian Church established before the American Revolution. The land on which this church is built is a small portion of 30,000 acres that William Penn left for his two children. The eastern portion of the acreage was given to his daughter Letitia in 1701, and was named Faggs Manor because Sir John Fagge was William Penn’s neighbor in England before he came to Pennsylvania.
Faggs Manor’s first minister, Reverend Samuel Blair, came in 1740 after ten years of prayer for a pastor. It was during his time here that the second meeting house was erected to accommodate the rapidly growing congregation gathering to hear Blair preach. Blair graduated from William Tennent’s Log College before coming to Faggs Manor, and later opened the first established school in Chester County, his own log college to train men for the Presbyterian ministry, bringing Presbyterianism to Western Pennsylvania. Even well-known evangelist George Whitfield preached there twice in 1740, once to twelve thousand people who had gathered to hear the gospel.
Along with Francis Makemie (1658-1708), Davies advanced the cause of religious and civil liberty in his era. His strong religious convictions led him to value what was commonly called the “freeborn mind” and the inalienable “liberty of conscience” that the established Anglican Church in Virginia often failed to respect. Davies helped found the Presbytery of Hanover, encompassing all Presbyterian ministers in Virginia and North Carolina. He served as its first moderator and was considered the region’s leading voice for religious dissenters
Davies accomplished much despite his relatively short life, and lived the creed to which he exhorted the Princeton Class of 1760, in his baccalaureate address, which has been echoed by the presidents of Princeton throughout its history: “Whatever be your place, imbibe and cherish a public spirit. Serve your generation.” Davies was one of the major contributors to the Great Awakening revivals which were one of the key factors that eventually caused America to break away from the Church of England, when the colonies had their own religious conscience and identity. Davies’ rhetorical gifts were renowned, and among the many people influenced by him was the patriot/orator Patrick Henry (1736-1799). Henry was taken to listen to many of Davies’ sermons as a young boy, often reciting portions of them aloud at his mother’s request. He would later claim that Davies had the “most profound influence” on him, and considered him to be the greatest speaker he had ever heard.
Davies took his preaching very seriously, and believed that sermons should be delivered “with a grave and affectionate solemnity.” A contemporary and friend, minister David Bostwick, said that Davies’ sermons were “adapted to pierce the conscience and affect the heart,” while William Buell Sprague (author of a famous book on revivals) noted that “he spoke with a glowing zeal … and an eloquence more impressive and effective than had then ever graced the American pulpit.” Davies’ published sermons went through several editions in the United States and England, and for fifty years after his death they were among the most widely read in the English language. He died on February 4, 1761 of tuberculosis, at the early age of 37.
This hymn is an elaboration of the repeated refrain, “Who is a God like unto Thee, that pardoneth iniquity?” found at the end of Micah 7. This is one of the most encouraging passages in the Bible to bring hope to the sinner struggling with a sense of guilt under the convicting influence of the Holy Spirit. Amid the darkness of oppression from the enemy, the soul wonders what hope there is of being ever again restored to a right relationship with the Lord. But what marvelous grace is promised in these verses, especially in a series of images in verses 18 and 19 that describe how God will treat the repentant sinner who comes “home” to the Lord.
Who is a God like you, pardoning iniquity
and passing over transgression
for the remnant of His inheritance?
He does not retain His anger forever,
because he delights in steadfast love.
He will again have compassion on us;
He will tread our iniquities underfoot.
You will cast all our sins
into the depths of the sea.
Refrain: Most human beings, including Christians, tend to think of themselves as pretty good people. It is not until we see the depth of our sins against our loving Creator that we begin to appreciate the fact that in spite of our sins He still provides us, in addition to the physical blessings of this world to meet our needs, with the gift of salvation in Christ, and therefore He is truly a “Great God of Wonders.” Here we celebrate one of the most wonderful of all those wonders that makes Christianity unique. Just about every religion recognizes that we need forgiveness for the “wrongs” that we do and the “rights” that we fail to do. But there is no religion beside the true revealed religion of the Bible that presents a God who pardons in such a way as the Lord, “or who has grace so rich and free!”
Who is a pardoning God like Thee,
or who has grace so rich and free?
Stanza 1 celebrates God’s grace.
- Our God is a God of great wonders: Psalm 89:5.
- These wonders show His divinity: Romans 1:20.
- But the fairest of His wonders is His grace by which we are saved: Ephesians 2:8-9.
Great God of wonders, all Thy ways
are matchless, God-like and divine;
but the fair glories of Thy grace
more God-like and unrivaled shine:
Stanza 2 celebrates God’s forgiveness.
- It is truly amazing that God is willing to forgive even crimes of great horror: Mark 3:28.
- This is especially noteworthy since we are in His sight as worms because of our sin: Job 25:6.
- Yet, it is His prerogative, and none shall share in the honor because it is not by works of righteousness that we have done: Titus 3:5
Crimes of such horror to forgive,
Such guilty, daring worms to spare;
This is Thy grand prerogative,
And none shall in the honor share. (refrain)
Stanza 3 celebrates God’s love.
- We have no right to claim anything from God because we have turned against Him: Isaiah 53:6.
- However, He loved us enough to make provision for us that we might not perish but have eternal life: John 3:16.
- This love crowns the name of the Lord with glory to be remembered and praised: Psalm 45:17.
Angels and men, resign your claim
To pity, mercy, love and grace:
These glories crown Jehovah’s Name
With an incomparable glaze. (refrain)
Stanza 4 celebrates God’s pardon.
- In place of everlasting sorrow for sin, we can receive a wonderful joy in Christ: Philippians 4:4.
- The reason for this joy is that we can take pardon from God: Jeremiah 33:8.
- The price for this pardon or forgiveness is the blood of Jesus Christ: Ephesians 1:7.
In wonder lost, with trembling joy,
We take the pardon of our God:
Pardon for crimes of deepest dye,
A pardon bought with Jesus’ blood. (refrain)
Stanza 5 celebrates God’s praise.
- The word “strange” here simply means out of the ordinary, and certainly the love of God shown in Christ is beyond the ordinary, passing mere human knowledge: Ephesians 3:19.
- Therefore, because of His grace and love, the name of the Lord should be praised throughout the whole earth: Psalm 66:4.
- Even the angelic choirs above praise the Lord for His salvation: Revelation 5:11-12.
O may this strange, this matchless grace,
This Godlike miracle of love,
Fill the whole earth with grateful praise,
And all th’angelic choirs above. (refrain)
The composer of this rousing hymn tune is not the John Newton (1725-1807) who wrote “Amazing Grace,” but a later individual, as the dates of his birth and death indicate (1802-1886). According to the Cyber Hymnal, the composer was the grandfather of English author D. H. Lawrence. As to his occupation, he was what was known as a “twisthand,” operating a machine that made lace. This Newton was also an accomplished composer and choral conductor.
Here is a link to the singing of the hymn in Northern Ireland.