Thursday, April 09, 2009

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross


When I survey the wondrous cross
On which the Prince of Glory died,
My richest gain I count but loss,
And pour contempt on all my pride.

Forbid it, Lord, that I should boast,
Save in the cross of Christ my God.
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His blood.

See, from His head, His feet,
Sorrow and love flow mingled down.
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet,
Or thorns compose so rich a crown?

Where 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

12 comments:

the Reverend boy said...

I love this hymn! My parish sings it in four part harmony and it's always moving.

Dawg said...

RB - This is my favorite hymn, period.

I hang on each word when we sing this hymn at church.

Unfortunately, when we do sing the this hymn, we never sing the whole thing.

Even when I read this hymn, by the time I finish the last stanza I am crying like a baby.

Ike said...

When I read about the "precious" blood of Christ I am ashamed of myself. Have I esteemed and lifted my Lord today as I ought to.......I do not know how to put into words what I am feeling. This is such a wonderful post that I just can't fully wrap my puny brain around it.

Question of Identity said...

Wayne
It is probably the most powerful hymn of all time - it says it all:"Love so amazing so Divine demand my soul, my life my all!"

Have a most God blessed Easter.

Neil

ExPatMatt said...

Wayne,

Have a great Easter weekend.

Good hymn, by the way.


Regards,


Matt

pastorbrianculver said...

May Resurrection Sunday be a blessed day for you and your family!

Dawg said...

Have a great Resurrection Day guy's!!

the Reverend boy said...

In the Episcopal Church, every Sunday is a mini-Resurrection Day. We proclaim "Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again" or "We remember his death, we proclaim his resurrection, we await his coming in glory."

But yes, this Sunday is "The Big One."

Blessed Holy Week to you all.

Dawg said...

"We proclaim "Christ has died, Christ is Risen, Christ will come again" or "We remember his death, we proclaim his resurrection, we await his coming in glory."

You're right RB - in fact, everyday should be esteemed as a celebration because of Him!

Joe A. said...

Yes, this is a powerful hymn. Isaac Watts was a thoroughly God-gifted hymn-writer.

I wish every hymn at church would be sung to its entirety rather than a couple of stanzas.

Also pleasant to the ear and convicting to the heart is The Old Rugged Cross as sung by Johnny Cash. Well, any voice will do, but you know what I mean.

Happy Easter to all. God bless.

Steve Martin said...

A blessed Holy Week and a Happy Easter (every day IS Resurrection Day for the Christian, indeed!)
to all here on this blog!

Try and go to a Good Friday worship service (if you can).

After all...there is no resurrection without death.

Jon said...

Have a great Resurrection Sunday! May we all remember God's furious love!