Press Release
“ I Asked the Lord That I Might Grow”

hymn by John Newton
performed by Aimee C Alexander

Around this time, I was thinking of recording a version of a hymn. I hadn’t picked which one, yet. We sang this song at church a couple of weeks before this night I couldn’t sleep. So after lying awake for some time, I got out of bed, went into our studio, and started to play this song.

There had been recent months of intense pain, with no end or solution in sight. My husband and I were hoping to get pregnant, yet it felt hopeless and brought back sorrowful memories of my abortion years ago. We knew his job that had been giving us financial security in troubling times was going to be moving far away from our church family we’d grown to love so much. And I woke up this night thinking, “Where are you, God?”

Yet when I think about the troubles I’ve been facing, I can’t help but blush when I think of John Newton, the writer of this beautiful hymn. Most people know John Newton for his hymn, “Amazing Grace.” He lived a hard life, ridden with much sin and hardship in his young adulthood. Later in life, one of his adopted children died as a child, and his beloved wife passed away from cancer.1

The vocal melody is from the Scottish folk tune, O Waly Waly. Most versions of this hymn online use this melody, and so I wanted to be consistent for anyone familiar with the song or who is hearing it for the first time and wants to look it up. I also think the melody fits quite beautifully with the words.

This is my first release as a singer/songwriter. I want to bring glory to God in all that I do, including the music I make. As a “newer” Christian (5 years this fall) and someone who has always loved music, I’ve been searching for new music to listen to, modern but also rooted in Scripture. Sadly, it seems much of the modern “worship” music I hear in churches and Christian circles has little reference to Scripture and focuses heavily on what God can do for us. My husband, Paul Alexander, and I both love hymns and find them to be incredibly encouraging, doctrinally sound, and God-honoring; so when I approached him about recording a version of a hymn he agreed to take on the task with me. I pray this song can find its way to the heart of God’s people, a generation that’s grown accustomed to spiritually harmful or dead “worship” music, and bring them back to God’s word. I pray it can remind us that it’s okay to be in sorrow or suffering when we still glorify and seek God in those troubling times.

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?
Why are You so far from helping Me, And from the words of My groaning?

References:

1. Fairchild, Mary. “Biography of John Newton, Author of Amazing Grace.” Learn Religions, Learn Religions, 15 May 2020, https://www.learnreligions.com/biography-of-john-newton-author-of-amazing-grace-4843896.