A debtor to mercy alone, of covenant mercy I sing;
Nor fear, with Thy righteousness on, my person and off’ring to bring.
The terrors of law and of God with me can have nothing to do;
My Savior’s obedience and blood hide all my transgressions from view.
-Augustus Toplady, A Debtor to Mercy Alone
Our fellow sufferer yet retains
A fellow feeling of our pains:
And still remembers in the skies
His tears, His agonies, and cries.
In every pang that rends the heart,
The Man of Sorrows had a part,
He sympathizes with our grief,
And to the sufferer sends relief.
With boldness, therefore, at the throne,
Let us make all our sorrows known;
And ask the aids of heavenly power
To help us in the evil hour.
-from Michael Bruce (1764), Where High the Heavenly Temple Stands
This is Isaac Watts’ rendering of the beatitudes for singing:
Bless’d are the humble souls that see
Their emptiness and poverty;
Treasures of grace to them are giv’n,
And crowns of joy laid up in Heav’n.
Bless’d are the men of broken heart,
Who mourn for sin with inward smart;
The blood of Christ divinely flows,
A healing balm for all their woes.
Bless’d are the meek, who stand afar
From rage and passion, noise and war;
God will secure their happy state,
And plead their cause against the great.
Bless’d are the souls that thirst for grace
Hunger and long for righteousness;
They shall be well supplied, and fed
With living streams and living bread.
Bless’d are the men whose bowels move
And melt with sympathy and love;
From Christ the Lord they shall obtain
Like sympathy and love again.
Bless’d are the pure, whose hearts are clean
From the defiling powers of sin;
With endless pleasure they shall see
A God of spotless purity.
Bless’d are the men of peaceful life,
Who quench the coals of growing strife;
They shall be called the heirs of bliss,
The sons of God, the God of peace.
Bless’d are the suff’rers who partake
Of pain and shame for Jesus’ sake;
Their souls shall triumph in the Lord;
Glory and joy are their reward.
-Isaac Watts, Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Hymn 1:102 Matt. 5:3012
“Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory” (1 Peter 1:8).
And when we taste thy love,
Our joys divinely grow
Unspeakable, like those above,
And heaven begins below
-Isaac Watts, Hymns and Spiritual Songs (on 1 Peter 1:8)
Which is reminiscent of,
The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;
Celestial fruits on earthly ground
From faith and hope may grow.
-Isaac Watts, Come We that Love the Lord (We’re marching to Zion)
To see the law by Christ fulfilled
And hear His pardoning voice,
Changes a slave into a child,
And duty into choice.
-William Cowper, from the hymn No Strength of Nature Can Suffice
This one goes in the ‘just sayin” department:
Tonight, I was meditating on the biblical teaching of ‘glorification’ and began to think of Isaac Watts’ great line:
‘The men of grace have found
Glory begun below;
Celestial fruits on earthly ground
From faith and love may grow.”
I then listened to the hymn, We’re Marching to Zion, and thought about its entirety, which leaves me just sayin’: I don’t know if there is a more beautiful hymn in the history of hymnody, and I don’t think I’ve ever actually sung it in a church service. I’m going to see if I can change that this coming Lord’s Day. Here are the lyrics and a video for your pleasure:
