MATTHEW 27:45–54; ROMANS 12:1
When young Isaac Watts saw that his church’s music was extremely poor, his father urged him to compose better music. Isaac did. His musical composition “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” has been translated into numerous different languages and is regarded as the best in the English language.
Watts’s third verse of worship invites us to the presence of Christ at the crucifixion:
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?
The crucifixion, as described by Watts, is a painful experience. The Son of God, held by crude spikes, endures torture and darkness before being dismissed. The events of that day prompted the centurion to believe Jesus was the Son of God, as described in Matthew 27:51–53.
The Poetry Foundation comments on Watts’ work by saying, “The Cross reorders all values and cancels all vanities.” “Love so amazing, so divine, demands my soul, my life, my all,” was the only way the song could end.
🙏 Lord Jesus, we come to your cross. Reorder our lives.
📷: Pleasureofart
