A Hymn by Isaac Watts
1. When I survey the wond'rous Cross
On which the Prince of Glory dy'd,
My richest Gain I count but Loss,
And pour Contempt on all my Pride.
2. Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the Death of Christ my God:
All the vain Things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to his Blood.
3. See from his Head, his Hands, his Feet,
Sorrow and Love flow mingled down!
Did e'er such Love and Sorrow meet,
Or Thorns compose so rich a Crown?
4. His dying Crimson, like a Robe,
Spreads o'er his Body on the Tree;
Then I am dead to all the Earth,
And all the Earth is dead to me.
5. Were the whole Realm of Nature mine,
That were a Present far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my Soul, my Life, my All.
These words by the great hymnodist, Isaac Watts, are truly a blessing to every Christian’s soul. He captures the essence of the first three beatitudes that our Lord taught us that every Christian possesses as parts of our ‘born again’ dispositions.
3 Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.4 Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted.
5 Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth.
(Mat. 5:3-5)
How true is the very fact that every thing that happened to our Lord temporally, is true of us spiritually. He was assaulted by Satan, ostracized by principalities and powers, and rejected by most of Israel and the world; and we are removed from “this present evil world”, and made free from the dominion of the devil. He literally died for our sins on the cross; and we die to sin in our souls. He rose from the dead unto eternal life and ascended into heaven in a physical manner; and we are raised ‘new creatures’, with a new soul, and God has “raised us up together, and made us sit together in heavenly places in Christ Jesus:”(Eph. 2:6)
This hymn contains this very truth, as put forth by the apostle Paul in Galatians, “God forbid that I should glory, save in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world is crucified unto me, and I unto the world.”(Gal. 6:14)
I can think of no truer hymn, than this one by Isaac Watts that captures the purity of the Christian’s knowledge of how utterly dependant he is in Christ Jesus, and how painfully dead and useless is all the world’s pride, wealth, and even the very nature of God’s own creation, in comparison to the “Love so amazing, so divine,”, that, “Demands my Soul, my Life, my All.”
Scripture Alone 