Galatians 6:14 – “But may it never be that I would boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world” (NASB95)
Isaac Watts grew up just like any one of us can relate to, I’m sure – learned Latin by age 5, Greek by 9, French by 11, and when he was 12, he mastered Hebrew (who doesn’t?…). He supposedly had a habit, as a child, of spontaneously making rhymes as he spoke – which drove his father to distraction. It is said that as he was growing up, he complained to his father, a clergyman, about the boring nature of the current hymns and his father replied with, “well then go write a better one!” Since he eventually wrote over 600 hymns in his lifetime – apparently, he took it as a challenge.
At 34, Watts wrote When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, intending for it to be used as a hymn before the Lord’s Supper in a collection published in 1707. It received the description of “greatest hymn in the English language” by British poet Matthew Arnold, who at the time occupied the chair of poetry at Oxford University.
He had penned it as he was preparing to partake of communion while focusing on Christ’s redemptive sacrifice through death on the cross. Watts has said that Christ’s death expresses “love so amazing, so divine,” that it is really beyond words, going on to describe it as the single most significant act in human history – and of course, he is correct!
As such, that love and sacrifice should be the focus of how we live our lives. The second verse of this song gives that idea of how central it should be: “Forbid it Lord, that I should boast, Save in the death of Christ my Lord! All the vain things that charm me most, I sacrifice them to His blood.” It’s not a focus on self, making ourselves happy, or what can be done for us – but on making our life a reflection of the love and compassion He showed for all mankind, applying it to ourselves and sharing it with all around us – the salvation available through “Jesus Christ, and Him crucified” (1 Cor. 2:2). A focus that, because of what was given for it, demands “my soul, my life, my all.”
Reference
– Osbeck, Kenneth W. 101 Hymn Stories. Kregel, Grand Rapids, 1982.
Abject Ministries LLC 