Jesus Paid It All

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Isaiah 1:18-19
Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be like snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool. If you are willing and obedient, you shall eat the good of the land!

Jesus Paid it All

1) I hear the Savior say, “Thy strength indeed is small;
Child of weakness, watch and pray, Find in Me thine all in all.”

Refrain: Jesus paid it all, All to Him I owe; Sin had left a crimson stain,
He washed it white as snow.

2) For nothing good have I Whereby Thy grace to claim;
I’ll wash my garments white In the blood of Calv’ry’s Lamb. Refrain

3) And now complete in Him, My robe, His righteousness,
Close sheltered ’neath His side, I am divinely blest.

4) Lord, now indeed I find Thy pow’r, and Thine alone,
Can change the leper’s spots and melt this heart of stone. Refrain

5) And when before the throne I stand in Him complete,
I’ll lay my trophies down, All down at Jesus’ feet. Refrain

Elvina Hall (lyrics) and George Grape (music)

What do you do when the pastor rambles on and on? You write a hymn. At least that is what Elvina Hall did in the choir loft of the Monument Street Methodist Church in Baltimore in 1865. The composer of the tune, John Grape, was the organist for the church, actually he was a coal merchant who "dabbled" in music! When the church was being remodeled, he took the organ home and learned how to play it. He called this tune "All to Christ I owe", but nobody liked it, except his wife. So everything was prepped for failure: a lyric written by a bored parishioner, a tune nobody liked composed by a rank amateur, and a pastor who couldn't hold the attention of the crowd. And here's the thing, it was that same pastor who discovered the tune and the lyrics and put them together - adding the refrain based upon the tune name, and in 1868, submitted it to the Methodist hymnal for publication. God always composes the best songs.

Prayer: Lord, keep us humble, keep us centered, keep us focused on the One who paid it all for us, our Lord Jesus, to whom we owe it all! Amen.


Here is my favorite version of this venerable hymn by, who else, Frenando Ortega:

 
 
Craig Fourman