Alas! and Did My Savior Bleed (At the Cross)

1. Alas! and did my Savior bleed,
and did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
for sinners such as I?

At the cross, at the cross,
where I first saw the light,
and the burden of my heart rolled away;
it was there by faith I received my sight,
and now I am happy all the day.

2. Was it for crimes that I have done,
he groaned upon the tree?
Amazing pity! Grace unknown!
And love beyond degree!
(Refrain)

3. Well might the sun in darkness hide,
and shut its glories in,
when God, the mighty maker, died
for his own creature's sin.
(Refrain)

4. Thus might I hide my blushing face
while his dear cross appears;
dissolve my heart in thankfulness,
and melt mine eyes to tears.
(Refrain)

5. But drops of tears can ne'er repay
the debt of love I owe.
Here, Lord, I give myself away;
'tis all that I can do.
(Refrain)

~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.

Great hymn!

Another verse is given in Psalms and Hymns of Isaac Watts at CCEL:

[Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, thine,
And bathed in its own blood,
While all exposed to wrath divine
The glorious Suff'rer stood!]

Finally, all the verses were written by Watts (1707) but the refrain ("At the cross, at the cross," etc.) was written by Ralph Hudson in 1885, according to Cyberhymnal.

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