This volume comprised songs "Composed on Divine Subjects",[1] and the hymn was given the heading "Godly sorrow arising from the Sufferings of Christ".

Thy Body slain, sweet Jesus, thine, And bath'd in its own Blood, While all expos'd to Wrath divine The glorious Sufferer stood?

Well might the Sun in Darkness hide, And shut his Glories in, When God the mighty Maker died For Man the Creatures Sin.

Thus might I hide my blushing Face While his dear Cross appears, Dissolve my Heart in Thankfulness, And melt mine Eyes to Tears.

[5] The hymn words centre on the Crucifixion of Jesus, and the opening verses offer a concise summary of the doctrine of penal substitution.

In the Canterbury Dictionary of Hymnology, Alan Gaunt describes it as "one of Watts's most intense lyric poems," which "emphasises the emotional effect on the writer and the reader/singer".

Charles Price Jones, founder of the Church of Christ (Holiness) U.S.A., added the following refrain: I surrendered at the cross, and my heart was cleansed from sin By the precious blood the Savior shed for me; I am living in His word, and it daily keeps me clean!

[4][12] The original line has been criticised by some modern commentators as an example of "worm theology",[16][17][18] which suggests to people that "low self-worth means God is more likely to show mercy and compassion upon them".

[16] Writing for Christianity Today, Mark Galli found the line problematic for promoting the idea that "only by abasing ourselves are we able to grasp and receive God's mercy".

[22] Hymnologist Madeleine Forell Marshall suggested Watts was not intending to make a general comment on humanity, but to describe how, when faced with the death of Jesus, we are "initially filled with powerful disgust and graphic self-loathing".