Dr. Magruder was blessed with a keen sense of man’s depravity and a great appreciation of God’s grace. He manifested this on many occasions. I would here cite one that became very memorable to the rest of the church.

I had led the church in singing the grand hymn of Isaac Watts,

“Alas! and did my Savior bleed, / And did my Sovereign die!
Would He devote that sacred head / For sinners such as I?”

At the hymn’s conclusion, Dr. Magruder objected out loud from his pew regarding the line “for sinners such as I”. He asserted that Mr. Watts had written instead “for such a worm as I”. He assumed someone had made the change probably in the hope of making the hymn more palatable to the easily offended. He let us know in no uncertain words that he did not appreciate the change. He also expressed his desire that henceforth the original line be used when singing this hymn. We heartily agreed. Thenceforth, every time we sang that hymn from that hymnal, the congregation was instructed beforehand to sing “for such a worm as I” instead of “for sinners such as I”.

A certain lady who attended our worship services at that time, but was not a member of the church, took offense at this. Her self-estimation permitted her to consider herself a sinner, but not a worm. (That is akin to those who admit they are sinners, but not criminals.) She scoffed at what she called “Dr. Magruder’s wormy doctrine”. (She also began telling visitors to our worship services that she did not agree with our doctrine. I therefore took steps that resulted in her leaving.)

“Dr. Magruder’s wormy doctrine”! Her term of derision became a badge of honor among the saints in the church, and endeared that venerable man all the more to us.

What is a worm? An earthworm probably comes first to your mind. But Holy Scriptures use the term worm of something much worse – of various kinds of maggots and the larvae of insects which feed on putrefying animal matter (as in Job 25:26). These worms are found among the dead, and feed on carcasses, and thrive in filth and decay.

What is “such a worm as I”? It is in the spiritual realm what was just described in the physical. It is a loathsome one living in death (Ephesians 2:1b) and delighting in uncleanness (Ephesians 4:17-19). It is a man blessed to see himself as God sees him. It is the man who acknowledges, “How then can man be righteous before God? Or how can he be pure who is born of a woman? If even the moon does not shine, and the stars are not pure in His sight, how much less man, who is a maggot, and a son of man, who is a worm?” (Job 25:4-6). It is the man who is encouraged at hearing, “‘Fear not, you worm Jacob, you men of Israel! I will help you,’ says the LORD and your Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel” (Isaiah 41:14) It is the man who understands what Jesus Christ said when, having been made sin for His people and suffering as their Substitute on Calvary, He confessed to God, “I am a worm, and no man” (Psalm 22:6). It is the man who delights in learning that God hears the prayers of such loathsome worms and saves them.

This “wormy doctrine” is Scriptural!