1. WHEN I SURVEY THE WONDROUS CROSS
(# 189)

2. Isaac Watts
Born in Southampton, England, in 1674, Watts was brought up in the home of a committed religious Noncomformist
His father (also named Isaac Watts) had been incarcerated twice for his faith
Classical education at King Edward VI School; he learned Latin, Greek, and Hebrew.
Could not study at Oxford or Cambridge

3. Isaac Watts
From an early age, Watts displayed a propensity for rhyme. Once, he responded when asked why he had his eyes open during prayers:
“A little mouse for want of stairs ran up a rope to say its prayers.”
When he got a spanking for this, he cried:
“O father, father, pity take And I will no more verses make.”

4. Isaac Watts Changes Religious Music
Musical Style was simple
Lyrical Content was based on Psalms
Watts “Christianized” psalms and hymns contained in scripture
Watts wrote poetry to reflect and affect Christian’s emotions
“Emotionally subjective, doctrinally objective”
Watts wrote modernized melodies to fit

5. Come We That Love The Lord
HYMN 30
Heavenly joy on earth.
Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne.
[The sorrows of the mind
Be banished from the place;
Religion never was designed
To make our pleasures less.]

6. Come We That Love The Lord
Let those refuse to sing
That never knew our God;
But favorites of the heav'nly King
May speak their joys abroad.
[The God that rules on high,
And thunders when he please,
That rides upon the stormy sky,
And manages the seas;]

7. Come We That Love The Lord
This aweful God is ours,
Our Father and our Love;
He shall send down his heav'nly powers
To carry us above.
There we shall see his face,
And never, never sin;
There, from the rivers of his grace,
Drink endless pleasures in.

8. Come We That Love The Lord
Yes, and before we rise
To that immortal state,
The thoughts of such amazing bliss
Should constant joys create.
[The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;
Celestial fruits on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow.]

9. 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. Psalm 24:10; Phil. 3:7
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. Gal. 6:14; Phil. 3:7-11

10. When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
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? John 15:13-14; Matt. 27:29
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.
Matt 22:36-37