“When I Survey The Wondrous Cross” by Melharmonic Virtual Choir directed by Chibuike N Onyesoh

“When I Survey” is a hymn which is saturated with theology and a call for an emotional response from the singer. This hymn was transformed into a statement of faith that crosses denominational lines and generations. According to hymn scholar Lionel Adey, the lines “‘All the vain things that charm me most / I sacrifice them . . .’ have a meaning personal to each singer, one that might require either action or renunciation.” The three pledges at the climax of the hymn (“my soul, my life, my all”) are a sacrifice that had once been required only of those taking monastic vows.

The theology of this hymn functions powerfully in the context of a worship service. Adey continues: “About to receive the Sacrament, the poet meditates upon the love that turned that instrument of judicial torture and death into the channel of divine compassion.”

This hymn is a masterpiece that marks the genius of one man and his influence on millions of singers throughout the ages. As Dr. Young says, the hymn “successfully built a bridge from psalmody to hymnody and set the church free to create a living body of Christian praise in song.”

Видео “When I Survey The Wondrous Cross” by Melharmonic Virtual Choir directed by Chibuike N Onyesoh канала Melharmonic Music Services