Galatians 5:24
And they that are Christ’s have crucified the flesh with the affections and lusts.
Modern books on writing fiction and non-fiction that people will actually read stress that well-crafted sentences use verbs to convey action and emotion. They emphasize that relying on adjectives and adverbs to do all the heavy lifting results in bored readers.
These techniques would improve modern songwriting. But they wouldn’t do much to improve Watts. It seems he intuitively knew this. Sometimes his songs lack in other areas, especially as changes in pronunciation of words leave some rhymes not rhyming today. But they never lack for vigor. And in this passage that calls for vigor, his hymn “O, If My Soul Were Formed For Woe” delivers:
O, if my soul were formed for woe,
How would I vent my sighs!
Repentance should like rivers flow
From both my streaming eyes.
‘Twas for my sins my dearest Lord
Hung on the cursed tree,
And groaned away a dying life
For thee, my soul, for thee.
O, how I hate those lusts of mine
That crucified my God!
Those sins that pierced and nailed his flesh
Fast to the fatal wood!
Yes, my Redeemer, they shall die,
My heart has so decreed;
Nor will I spare the guilty things
That made my Savior bleed.
Whilst, with a melting, broken heart,
My murdered Lord I view,
I’ll raise revenge against my sins,
And slay the murd’rers too.
Expository Songs
The Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:16-23)
Popularized by Honeytree
YouTube | Amazon
Strange is the faithful christian’s life (Galatians 5:16-24)
Lyrics
The Inward Warfare (Galatians 5:17) (1779)
John Newton | Popularized by Olney Hymns (1779)
Lyrics
The Golden Nine (Galatians 5:22-23)
William P. Breed
Lyrics | Sheet Music
Oh! if my soul were formed for woe (Galatians 5:24) (1709)
Isaac Watts | Popularized by Hymns and Spiritual Songs (1707-09)
Lyrics | Sheet Music
Other References
The Son Hath Made Me Free (Galatians 5:1)
Mirian Oatman, W.A. Stewart | Popularized by The McKameys
Lyrics | YouTube | Amazon
Love One Another (Galatians 5:13) (1996)
Jon Mohr, Randall Dennis | Popularized by Steve Green
Lyrics | YouTube | Amazon
Walking in the Spirit (Galatians 5:16) (1989)
David Morris | Popularized by Integrity Music
YouTube | Amazon
Fruit-Bearing (If Ye Then With Christ Be Risen) (Galatians 5:19-23)
Clara McAlister
Lyrics | Sheet Music
Come, Holy Ghost, Our Souls Inspire (Galatians 5:22-23)
John Cosin
Lyrics | Sheet Music
Self Consecration (Galatians 5:24)
Matthew Bridges
Lyrics | Sheet Music
What evil can such teachers do (Galatians 5:24)
Lyrics
Quotes
The Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22) (1992)
Popularized by Steve Green and Hide ‘Em In Your Heart
Lyrics | YouTube | Amazon
The Fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:25) (1992)
Popularized by Steve Green and Hide ‘Em In Your Heart
Lyrics | YouTube | Amazon