Watts: When I survey the wond'rous cross

Tuesday, November 26, 2013
    Commemoration of Isaac Watts, Hymnwriter, 1748
Meditation:
    May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.
    —Galatians 6:14 (NIV)
Quotation:
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.

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 thy blood.

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?

His dying crimson, like a robe,
Spreads o’er his body on the tree;
Then am I dead to all the globe,
And all the globe is dead to me.

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.
    ... Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, ed. Samuel Melanchthon Worcester, Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1834, p. 478 (see the book)
    See also Gal. 6:14; Isa. 53:3-5; Matt. 27:28-29; Rom. 6:4; 1 Cor. 2:2; 2 Cor. 5:14-16; Gal. 2:20; 5:24; Phil. 1:21; 3:8-9; Col. 3:1-3; 1 John 2:15-17
Quiet time reflection:
    Lord, Your people yield all to You.

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