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"Amazing Grace," shall always
be my song of praise
For it was grace that
brought me liberty
I do not know just why
He came to love me so
He looked beyond my fault
and saw my need

Throughout the '60s and '70s, Dottie Rambo, her husband Buck, and their daughter Reba, made up The Singing Rambos, one of the most successful southern gospel trios of all time. As the group's main songwriter, Dottie was prolific. Today, hardly any modern hymnal fails to include one or more of her 2,500 songs. Dottie's best-known song, by far, is the inspirational "He Looked Beyond My Fault and Saw My Need."

In 1970, Dottie began writing a song about the grace of God, but was unable to finish it. When her older brother was hospitalized with cancer and told that he had only weeks to live, Dottie sat by his bedside and ministered to him. Within a few days, she persuaded him to marry the woman who had borne him five children. Dottie read the Bible to him and prayed with him. One day, after singing at a concert, she returned to ask: "Have you given your life to Jesus since I've been gone?"

Eddie, 37, stared at her with sad eyes. "After the wicked life I've lived, the Lord won't raise a person like me," he muttered. He reminded her of his time in jail and his addiction to drugs and alcohol.

"The Lord left the 99 to bring a lost sheep like you back to the fold," Dottie told him. She continued to pray for his salvation. Then she went home and finished "He Looked Beyond My Fault." For years Jimmie Davis, the southern gospel singer and former Louisiana governor, had asked her to write a song to the tune of "Danny Boy." With this song, she finally discovered the inspiration. Later that day, she returned to the hospital to sing the song to Eddie.

Dottie Rambo

On Sunday, after she finished singing in an Ohio church, Dottie felt the Holy Spirit's assurance that Eddie had been converted. Hurriedly returning to Tennessee, she found her brother so weak that he could barely talk. "Yesterday I gave my heart to the Lord and he forgave me," he whispered in Dottie's ear. "When I get to heaven, I'll wait for you at the Pearly Gates so we can enjoy heaven together."

Before he died, Eddie asked his sister to sing "He Looked Beyond My Fault" at his funeral.

The experience left Dottie even more determined "to share with the many hurting and wounded people in this world the wonderful message of God's great and unconditional love."

Showing no signs of slowing down after 50 years of songwriting, Dottie continues to speak at seminars and appear on Christian television. Since July, she has been celebrating the release of her new album, Stand By The River, which includes an updated version of "He Looked Beyond My Fault." Dottie tells fans that she sings "He Looked Beyond My Fault" every night, even if she's not performing. "It continues to feel like a brand-new song to me," she says. "The joyful news of God's grace never grows old."

Lyrics by Dottie Rambo, 2003 John T. Benson Publishing Company. All rights reserved. Used by permission.

A Christian Reader original article.

Copyright © 2003 by the author or Christianity Today International/Today's Christian magazine.
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