Hymn of the Month

We are commanded to, Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs (Colossians 3:16). You will find that we incorporate hymns into our regular Sunday morning worship. At Pacific Hope Church, we firmly believe in equipping God's people in the knowledge of His Word through sound teaching in our classes, Bible studies, and even in our Sunday morning worship. Our worship will always be to exalt the Lord to His proper place, never man-centered or seeking to create an emotional expereince.

We invite you to check this page regulary as we will focus on a different hymn-writer and specific hymn. Our hope is that as we study the featured hymn-writers and their songs, Sundays will be a time of rich, biblical worship, and together we will continue to learn what it is to truly worship Him in spirit and in truth.

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross

Isaac Watts 17 July 1674 – 25 November 1748

At fifteen the young poet turned his talents to the service of the church and the great career in hymn-writing began.

At age 20 Isaac wrote the bulk of his Hymns and Spir¬it¬u¬al Songs in a two year span.  The writing of his first hymn was significant in view of the fact that hymns weren't sung in English churches. English Protestants of Calvinist parentage had adopted the practice of singing only metrical psalms in worship. The texts of these metrical psalms were poetically crude and ludicrous, the mood was ponderous, the tone of the entire service dreary. Returning from the service one Sunday morning Isaac complained vehemently to his father about the psalm-singing that put people off worship. "Why don't you write a hymn suitable for congregational singing?” his father retorted. In the course of the afternoon Watts did just that, and the congregation sang hymn #1 the same evening.
In his hymns he takes the Word of God, and distils it so that all its wisdom, beauty and comfort are set before us with plainness and power.

Isaac Watt's greatest composition "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" was written in 1707 for use at a communion service conducted by Watts. It first appeared in print that same year in Watts’ outstanding collection, Hymns and Spiritual Songs. The original title was "Crucifixion to the World by the Cross of Christ." This hymn has been called 'The very best hymn in the English language' and in it Watts paints a soul-stirring picture of our Savior’s death on the cross coupled with the whole-hearted response of the believer to such amazing love. 
Watts rewrote many of the Psalms during his time but he also wrote a number of hymns purely based on personal feelings. "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross" is one of them, something he called hymns of human composure. This particular hymn is the product of scripture: Galatians 6:14: May I never boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Watts is recognized as the "Father of English Hymnody", as he was the first prolific and popular English hymn writer, credited with some 750 hymns. Many of his hymns remain in active use today.

Sources:
Wikapedia
Cyberhymnal.org
Suite101.com

When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
By Isaac Watts

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 death of Christ my God!
All the vain things that charm me most,
I sacrifice them to His 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?

Were the whole realm of nature mine,
That were an offering far too small;
Love so amazing, so divine,
Demands my soul, my life, my all.