When I Survey the Wondrous Cross
Isaac Watts · 1707 · tune HAMBURG
Key of D · public domain
Words
On which the Prince of glory died
My richest gain I count but loss
And pour contempt on all my pride
Save in the death of Christ my God
All the vain things that charm me most
I sacrifice them to His blood
Sorrow and love flow mingled down
Did e'er such love and sorrow meet
Or thorns compose so rich a crown
That were an offering far too small
Love so amazing, so divine
Demands my soul, my life, my all
The story
Isaac Watts published this in 1707 under the heading Crucifixion to the world, by the cross of Christ, which is Galatians 6:14. He was doing something new. English congregations at the time sang metrical psalms almost exclusively, on the reasoning that God had already provided the words. Watts argued that Christians should be free to sing as Christians, and wrote hundreds of hymns to prove it. Matthew Arnold, no evangelical, called this the greatest hymn in the English language. Watch what the verses do: each one moves further from counting anything as gain, until by the last one the whole realm of nature is too small an offering. Then the final line asks for everything anyway.
Chords in D
In the app you can move this to any key and it works out the capo for you.
Themes
Cross · Communion · Devotion