The song he erased and rewrote — the story behind “Grace” (Son Kyung-min)
“Grace” (은혜) is sung in many Korean churches. Its words are not the ones first written: the songwriter erased them all and started again.
Our Hymn Story reel told this story in a few seconds; here it is in a little more detail. It is based on what Pastor Son Kyung-min has said in interviews. His own words are in quotation marks, with the outlet named (translated from Korean).
2018, before his ordination
“Grace” was written and composed by worship songwriter Pastor Son Kyung-min. He first wrote it in 2018, when he was preparing for ordination.
He didn’t put the song away once it was written. In his words, “In 2018, ahead of my ordination, I wrote a song called ‘Grace’ and was meditating on its lyrics” (Christian Today).
2020, looking back in a time that stood still
In 2020, COVID brought so much to a stop. Many churches could not gather for worship the way they used to.
Through that season, he says, he looked back on how God had led him to where he was (iGoodNews).
The question changed, and he erased it all
Then his question changed. When he first wrote the song, he was asking, “What grace have I received in my life?” Going through COVID, he says, the question became, “What in my life is not grace?” (iGoodNews).
A question that searched for grace one item at a time became a question that wondered whether anything was not grace at all. So he erased the lyrics he had written in 2018 and wrote them again from the beginning.
As 2020 came, I ended up erasing all the lyrics and writing them again.
Moving four times in a year
The road he looked back on included a hard childhood. In one interview he recalled that his family “sometimes moved four times in a single year” (Christian Today). Even so, he says, “When I look back on my life, I have lived a truly happy life” (same interview).
A hand on a sleeping child’s head
When he talks about those years, he remembers his mother. By the time she came home from work, the children were usually already asleep.
I’d be asleep, feel drops of water, and open my eyes to find my mother with her hand on my head, praying in tears.“All of it was freely given”
Having looked back over the road behind him, he puts it this way.
Looking back on how God has led me this far, all of it was freely given.December 17, 2020: “Grace”
The rewritten song was released as the single “Grace” on December 17, 2020. As the pandemic dragged on, many believers worried about the future found themselves listening to it (Kidok Shinmun).
Of the song, he says, “You could call ‘Grace’ my confession of faith” (Kidok Shinmun).
The song at a glance
- Title
- 은혜 (Grace)
- Words & music
- Son Kyung-min (손경민)
- First written
- 2018 (lyrics rewritten in 2020)
- Released
- December 17, 2020
- Release
- 은혜 - Single · ℗ 2020 Son Kyung Min / CCMHUB
“Grace” is a copyrighted song, so we don’t print its lyrics here. Please listen to the official recording.
If you project the lyrics or share charts in worship, check what your church’s copyright license covers.
A closing thought
This song did not stay the way it was first written. It is the confession of someone who looked back on his life for a long time, changed his question, and erased what he had written to write it again.
We pray that his confession becomes ours today.
Sources (in Korean)
- 크리스천투데이 — 손경민 목사 인터뷰 (2022. 11. 21.) — Written in 2018, rewritten in 2020, the changed question, childhood, his mother’s prayers, “a happy life” — his own words
- 아이굿뉴스 — 손경민 목사 인터뷰 (2023. 6. 7.) — The question that changed during COVID, “all freely given” — his own words
- 주간기독신문 — [이슈 & 인물] 작곡가 손경민 목사 (2023. 10. 17.) — How it resonated during COVID, “my confession of faith” — his own words (sources differ on the year of his ordination, so we leave it out)
- Apple Music — 은혜 - Single (손경민) — Released Dec 17, 2020 · ℗ 2020 Son Kyung Min / CCMHUB