Almost sixteen years ago an old hymn became new to me. A Debtor To Mercy Alone was written by Augustus Montague Toplady (1740–78). Toplady takes his place with the great English hymn-writers of the 18th century: Doddridge, Cowper, Newton and others. He had a distinctive style all his own that was characterized by the power of his opening lines:
Rock of Ages, cleft for me,
Let me hide myself in Thee.
Object of my first desire,
Jesus crucified for me.
Compared with Christ, in all beside
No comeliness I see.
A sovereign Protector I have
Unseen, yet for ever at hand.
According to J.C. Ryle, Toplady had an unusual ability at “combining truth, poetry, life, warmth, fire, depth, solemnity and unction" (Elsie Houghton, Christian Hymn-writers. Brynterion, Bridgend, Mid Glamorgan Wales: Evangelical Press of Wales, 1982, 165) Many of the most precious doctrines of the Bible were made easier to understand in his hymns. Truths like the atoning work of Christ, the imputation of Christ’s righteousness, and the doctrines of the covenant and final perseverance were developed magnificently into hymns of praise.
Before I offer a paraphrase of Toplady’s hymn, allow me to give some account of his life. He was born at Farnham in Surrey in 1740. His father, a major in the army, died of yellow fever at the siege of Cartegena in South America, a few months after the birth of his son. Toplady retained a deep and lasting sense of indebtedness to his mother who showed him much love and planned his education wisely. He went first to Westminster School, starting there as William Cowper was just leaving. Later, when providential circumstances took his mother to Ireland, he entered Trinity College, Dublin, graduating in 1760.
Toplady was converted while living in Ireland. “Strange that I, who had so long sat under the means of grace in England, should be brought near to God in an obscure part of Ireland, amidst a handful of people met together in a barn, and by the ministry of one who could hardly spell his name” (Houghton, 162). He said later that although he was ‘awakened’ in 1755, he was not led into a full and clear view of the doctrines of grace till 1758 when, through the great goodness of God, ‘my Arminian prejudices received an effectual shock in reading Dr. Manton’s sermons on John 17' (Houghton, 162).
Toplady’s first ministry began in the Church of England at Blagdon in Somerset. In 1768 he became vicar of Broad Hembury where many of his hymns were written. Not long after he moved to London where he often was involved in pamphlet wars with the Wesleys. He ‘sometimes indulged in the severe and scurrilous language that was tolerated in controversy in those times. But though the controversialists differed in doctrine they were alike in the sweetness and spirituality of their songs’ (Houghton, 163-64).
After Toplady moved to London he went to hear George Whitefield as often as he could, but it was to William Romaine, whose chapel was close to where his mother lived, that he owed his greatest debt. The following year he began to minister at the French Huguenot Chapel, in Orange Street, Leicester Fields (now Square). With fast-failing health he ministered there to overflowing congregations of 1200-1500 people for just over two years, ‘preaching with the solemnity of a voice from the tomb and the joy of one on the very verge of heaven’ (Houghton, 164).
The closing days of Toplady’s life were triumphant and happy. When his doctor told him that his pulse was growing weaker, he replied, ‘Why, that is a good sign that my death is fast approaching and, blessed be God, I can add that my heart beats every day stronger and stronger for glory’ (Houghton, 164). When close to the end, bursting into tears as he spoke, he said, ‘It will not be long before God takes me, for no mortal man can live after the glories God has manifested to my soul.’
With such a sketch of his life before your minds consider the following paraphrase of one of his most beloved hymns, A Debtor To Mercy Alone.
A debtor to mercy alone,
Of covenant mercy I sing;
Nor fear, with Thy righteousness on,
My person and offering to bring;
The terrors of law and of God
With me can have nothing to do;
My Saviour’s obedience and blood
Hide all my transgressions from view.
I sing because I cannot be silent. I sing because I am a debtor to God’s mercy, mercy seen most vividly against the backdrop of His covenant. I am under obligation to enter into His holy presence, bringing a sacrifice of praise that will please Him. But He is so perfectly holy and righteous and I am so full of sin that anxiety fills my soul. The Psalmist asks, How can I ascend the hill of the Lord? How can I come before this holy God who has set a standard according to His own holy will? It is a standard that is so high that I have not been able to keep it. Thanks be to God! When God sees me coming near to Him with my feeble offering He does not look upon me with all my imperfections; rather He sees His Son, my Savior, in my place, with a perfect offering. Therefore, with the righteousness of Christ as my clothing I come boldly before Him, not fearing Him nor the terrors of His law. My Savior has been completely obedient to the will of God even to the point of death. He shed His blood on the cross so that all my transgressions against God’s law would be hidden from His piercing gaze. I sing … because I am a debtor to His covenant mercy alone.
The work which His goodness began,
The arm of His strength will complete;
His promise is Yea and Amen,
And never was forfeited yet.
Things future, nor things that are now,
Not all things below nor above,
Can make Him His purpose forgo,
Or sever my soul from His love.
I sing because He has redeemed me by His precious blood; but that is not all. He has only just begun His work toward me. He stretched out His omnipotent hand and touched me and healed me and made me whole. God is so good! He’s so good to me; and the work that His goodness began with the touch of His hand, will be completed by the arm of His strength. I am assured of this fact because God has promised to finish what He has started; and the covenant God cannot lie. His word is His bond; His Yes is always Yes and never No. His word has never returned to Him void. His purpose will be accomplished in my life because He loves me with an everlasting love. Nothing can separate me from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus my Lord. I am persuaded, I am convinced from God’s unalterable Word that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation can alter the course of His decree; nothing can sever my soul from His covenant love.
My name from the palms of His hands
Eternity will not erase;
Impressed on His heart it remains,
In marks of indelible grace;
Yes, I to the end shall endure,
As sure as the earnest is given;
More happy, but not more secure,
The glorified spirits in heaven.
I sing because I am assured of His eternal love toward me in Christ Jesus. He has written my name on the palms of His hands so that He cannot forget me; and, nothing, not even time itself, can dilute the ink of His pen nor erase the marks of His grace. My name is indelibly impressed upon His heart and there it remains forever. I sing boldly, assuredly, because I know that I will persevere to the end of my days and throughout eternity. I know this because God has promised me – He has pledged His Holy Spirit as a downpayment of His inheritance to me. Could I possibly be any happier? He has given me eternal life and that fills me with joy that is inexpressible, unspeakable and full of glory!
I sing of His covenant mercy. Surely, I am a debtor to mercy alone!
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