Hymn 1:57 [Backward With Humble Shame We Look]

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Title:     Hymn 1:57 [Backward With Humble Shame We Look]
Author: Isaac Watts [More Titles by Watts]

Original sin; or, The first and second Adam,
Rom. 5. 12. Psalm 51. 5. Job 11. 4.

Backward with humble shame we look
On our original;
How is our nature dash'd and broke
In our first father's fall!

To all that's good averse and blind,
But prone to all that's ill
What dreadful darkness veils our mind!
How obstinate our will!

[Conceiv'd in sin (O wretched state!)
Before we draw our breath,
The first young pulse begins to beat
Iniquity and death.

How strong in our degenerate blood
The old corruption reigns,
And, mingling with the crooked flood,
Wanders thro' all our veins!]

Wild and unwholesome as the root
Will all the branches be;
How can we hope for living fruit
From such a deadly tree?

What mortal power from things unclean
Can pure productions bring?
Who can command a vital stream
From an infected spring?]

Yet, mighty God, thy wondrous love
Can make our nature clean,
While Christ and grace prevail above
The tempter, death, and sin.

The second Adam shall restore
The ruins of the first,
Hosanna to that sovereign power
That new creates our dust.

[The end]
Isaac Watts's poem: Hymn 1:57 [Backward With Humble Shame We Look]

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