"Long Have I Pondered"

Long have I pondered the pain of the cross:
Wood soaked in blood, washed with tears, drenched in sweat.
Whips, cruel nails, crown of thorns, countless cost:
Somehow this death is both promise and threat.
Cascades of suffering and love shrink my pride;
Silent, I’m hushed by his spear-riven side.

Long have I pondered the shame of the cross:
Jeered by the troops, by authorities scorned.
Mocked by a brigade, society’s dross.
Christ is abandoned, rejected, ignored.
How can I focus on triumphs and fears,
Here lies my Maker, Redeemer, and King.

Long have I pondered the curse of the cross:
Sinless, the Christ bears my guilt and my pain.
Thundering silence, a measureless cost,
God in His heaven lets Christ cry in vain.
Now I can glimpse sin’s bleak horror, and worse:
Christ dies and bears the unbearable curse.

Long have I pondered the Christ of the cross:
Gone is the boasting when I’m next to Him.
Loving the rebel, redeeming the lost,
Jesus’ pure goodness exposes my sin.
Self is cut down by this triumph of grace:
Christ’s bloody cross is the hope of our race.


This is a song by D. A. Carson. (For those of you who listen to Soundforth, he wrote “To the Praise of His Glorious Grace.”). Every time I listen to it, it convicts me more. I just want to challenge you to think about the words.