By Guest Writer
Few hymn writers have had a greater impact on Christian worship than Isaac Watts. With more than 750 hymns to his name, Watts has been dubbed the Father of English Hymnody for good reason, penning some of the most beloved worship refrains in the English-speaking world.
From the triumphant “Joy to the World,” celebrating the Savior’s birth, to the moving “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” reflecting on the Savior’s death, Watts packs profound gospel truths into memorable poetic phrases with every lyric he writes.
Watts’ gospel truth packed into poetic phrase is on bright display in today’s hymn. As the title indicates, Watts wanted to deepen our worship of God by growing our understanding of true blessing and reflecting on the nature of repentant faith.
“Blessing” is a word we throw around a lot. We get a promotion at work, or a new healthy baby is born, and we say we are blessed. As a kid in Sunday School, I remember having to list out my blessings: my baseball bat, hot dogs, the swimming pool, and yes, even my sister. I was taught that every good thing in my life was, in some way, a blessing from God.
What I didn’t understand then was that the concept of “blessing” is far more than physical or material favors from God. In fact, blessing lies at the center of God’s redemptive purpose. In Genesis 12:3, God tells Abraham that through him the blessing of salvation will extend to all the families of the earth. In the New Testament, the Apostle Paul tells us this blessing to Abraham extends to us through the person and work of Jesus Christ (Galatians 3:13-14).
Watts, in this hymn, reflects on the blessing of salvation and how we receive it through repentant faith in Jesus Christ. Repentant faith begins when “sins with sorrow are confessed.” When truly grieved and broken over our sin, we come out of hiding. We must step out from behind the trees and the fig leaves (Genesis 3) and acknowledge our sin before God (Psalm 32:5).
If we do this, scary as it is, God will give us grace. We will be “covered with the Savior’s blood.” In a paradox that lies at the heart of the gospel, Watts teaches us that we must disrobe in order to be robed. We must own our guilt before God in order to know “how glorious is that righteousness that hides and cancels all my sin.”
When we begin to experience the power of God’s grace covering our shame and guilt, a new life takes hold. We become new creatures in Christ (2 Cor. 5:17) and “the bright evidences of grace” begin to “appear and shine” in every facet of our lives. This is what it means to be blessed.
Blest is the man who knows the grace of our God.
Written By Nate Shurden
Blest is the Man, Forever Blest
Isaac Watts, 1719
Blest is the man, forever blest,
Whose guilt is pardoned by his God,
Whose sins with sorrow are confessed
And covered with his Savior’s blood.
Blest is the man to whom the Lord
Imputes not his iniquities;
He pleads no merit of reward
And not on works but grace relies.
From guile his heart and lips are free;
His humble joy, his holy fear,
With deep repentance well agree
And join to prove his faith sincere.
How glorious is that righteousness
That hides and cancels all his sins,
While bright the evidence of grace
Thro’ all his life appears and shines!
For an added layer of worship during reading plan, we’ve created a Spotify playlist for Hymns. You can find the complete HRT Hymns Playlist here, or listen to the first track on the player below. Enjoy!
101 thoughts on "Blest Is the Man"
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Matt Rouse says:
The gospel is freedom!! It frees us from striving because the work is finished! Our verdict is handed down and reads not-guilty. There is nothing we can do to change or enhance the verdict. It is complete and it is ours!
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Jordan Serio says:
Man is always going to be making mistakes but if we confess to the Lord, man can be seen as righteous and clean.
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I will confess to the Lord, and be confident in knowing I am wiped clean.
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The gospel is love, forgiveness, and mercy.
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He is quick to forgive, quick to love, and quick to give out grace.
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Lord, I confess my sins to you. I know I’ve made mistakes this week and gone against your word. Please forgive me. I am nothing without you. I can’t do anything right unless you are with me.
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andrew says:
Give me contentment, God. i pray you will teach me deeply in repentance and godly sorrow. thank you for your gifts and your redemption and yourself.
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Benjamin McKnight says:
That God will help me when I’m actually trying to make these important decisions.
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Blest is the man who has a pure heart and decides that it’s actually good to have some self control.
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Tom Macias says:
I will press into Gods presence with confidence knowing he has called me to be there with him. That through grace and grace alone I am able to stand before him and worship him freely without fear. He loves me. He has given me grace to be able to have a relationship with me unlike any other.
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God wants me to be entirely dependent on him. When I live in the comfort of his grace knowing that even though I don’t deserve this, he loves me so much that he provides it for me anyways, that brings a peace to my heart. I am cared for. I am loved. And it has nothing to do with my performance.
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I am called to be a father to my two sons. I should live the example of unmerited love. To give freely to my two boys without concern for performance, obedience or any other factor. Discipline is needed but that doesn’t mean my love and affection ever ceases.
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It shows me how incredible God is as a Father. He is the father and an example to us all. How to love and care for our children. How to provide a healthy environment for them. How to show them affection and discipline in a compassionate way. God is incredible that he would give me his Son as a stand-in for my sins. That he loves me so much, he would willingly sacrifice his own son to save me.
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Jesus. Thank you for your sacrifice. Thank you for opening the door between my God and I. I ask that you show me your grace and reveal its deepest meanings to me. Give me wisdom and understanding to see its full extent and to be able to share that with others. Thank you for opening my eyes to your truth and love. In Jesus’ name. Amen.
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Nick S says:
Man is blessed when he acknowledges his sin and confesses it to the Lord & repents.
The man who holds onto his sin, hides it, and does not confess, will be eaten up by it and feel terrible and life will suck.
Man – the child of God – is convicted by the Lord.
Man is blessed by God.
The freedom from sin causes man to praise God, he rejoices.
Better for him to come clean and be right with God than to hide it and be miserable.
Man is justified by faith, not works of the law -
God’s blessing is more than just stuff, it is central the plan of redemption.
God covers, pardons, and gives joy to the man who confesses his sins with godly sorrow. He is forgiving.God is good. God is merciful &a gracious. God is loving towards his people. God loves righteousness. God wants to dress us in his righteousness.
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God is merciful and loving.
When God convicts us of our sin, we will be miserable until we confess it and repent. When we do confess and have sorrow for our sin, we are forgiven, and made new. We are justified by faith, and continually being made a new creation in Christ.
Sanctification is tough, but God is the initiator and we cooperate by trusting that he will be faithful &I just to forgive us our sin.
My sin was imputed to Christ, his righteousness imputed to me.Praise God
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I will confess my sins to the LORD my God. No longer will I hold back things that are in my heart and mind. No need to be prideful and hold onto my sin and be miserable. I will humble myself before the Lord and confess my sin to him and to others and pray that God would break my heart over my sin. I will repent and seek the face of God, so I may be forgiven of my sin and experience the blessing of God.
I will surrender to him once again because he is a good God. -
Father,
I confess to you my sin.
I confess to you my apathy towards the things of God and towards the gospel of Jesus Christ. I confess that I have not been focusing on spreading the good news or living a life above reproach or setting an example for the believers. I have instead been focused on maintaining my own life.
I have not surrendered to you and made you my only object of worship and I have not put you as #1.
Instead, I have mixed godliness with worldliness. I have sought your blessing and guidance by doing things my way but pretending they are godly.I have been lustful; I have been prideful; I have been apathetic; I have filled my heart with idols, things which are good things from the hand of God that I have abused and replaced them as my god. My relationship, my technology, my free time. I have not honored you with those lately.
Lord, I pray that no idols would be in my life. Help me Put these things in their proper place or to get rid of them completely, since I do not want to love those things more than you.
God forgive my sin, pardon me. Wash me clean, renew me, make me a new creation. Give me a deep love for you and a hate for sin. Lord draw me close to yourself, do not let me stray.
I love you and I praise you for you are so good and especially so good to me. I do not deserve you or your love but you have blessed me with salvation. I am numbered with abrahams descendants. I am truly blest. Blessed be The LORD almighty forever & ever.
Amen
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Erik says:
God is always available and waiting for us to draw near to Him.
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