~Alas! And Did My Savior Bleed

       Isaac Watts was born July 17, 1674, at Southampton, England.  He was born into the home of “non-Conformists” in the days when Dissenters and Independents were persecuted by the Church of England.  Fortunately this intolerance lasted only a short while after his birth. 

       His father, twice jailed during the persecution, afterward prospered in his business and was able to give his son the best kind of education. 

       Isaac entered the ministry and preached his first sermon at the age of twenty-four. His utter lack of what is commonly known as handsomeness was probably responsible for the fact that he remained unmarried throughout his life.  Yet I’m sure this frail soul had learned the truth of the verse which begins this meditation.

       He wrote many scholarly papers that were used in several institutions of higher learning.  Yet one of the most memorable pieces that came from his pen was a simple hymn, “Alas!  and Did My Savior Bleed.”

       Fanny Crosby testified that this song helped her to find the Savior when “believing” came most difficult.

—Lindsay I. Terry

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Alas and Did My Savior Bleed? [1]

1           Alas and did my Savior bleed?

And did my Sov’reign die!

Would He devote that sacred head

For such a worm as I?

Chorus  Oh, come, sinner, you will hear

The Savior say, “Weep not for me,”

See the Savior on the cross!

Oh, sinner, hear Him cry,

“Eloi, Eloi, Lama Sabacthani.”

2           Thus might I hide my blushing face,

While His dear cross appears;

Dissolve my heart in thankfulness,

And melt mine eyes to tears.

3           But drops of grief can ne’er repay

The debt of love I owe;

Here, Lord, I give myself away,

’Tis all that I can do.