Isaac Watts

“ Wisdom descends to heal the blind,
And chase the darkness of the mind.
2 Our guilty souls are drown'd in tears
Till his atoning blood appears,
Then we awake from deep distress,
And sing, "The Lord our Righteousness."
3 Our very frame is mix'd with sin,
His Spirit makes our natures clean;
Such virtues from his sufferings flow,
At once to cleanse and pardon too.
4 Jesus beholds where Satan reigns,
Binding his slaves in heavy chains;
He sets the prisoners free, and breaks
The iron bondage from our necks.
5 Poor helpless worms in thee possess
Grace, wisdom, power, and righteousness ”

“ This is the grace that shall prevail
In the decisive hour.
5 [Faith must obey her Father's will
As well as trust his grace;
A pardoning God is jealous still
For his own holiness.
6 When from the curse he sets us free,
He makes our natures clean,
Nor would he send his Son to be
The minister of sin.
7 His Spirit purifies our frame,
And seals our peace with God;
Jesus, and his salvation, came
By water and by blood.] ”

“ Can souls all o'er defil'd with sin
Make their own powers and passions clean?
3 In vain we search, in vain we try,
Till Jesus bring his gospel nigh;
'Tis there such power and glory dwell
As saves rebellious souls from hell.
4 This is the pillar of our hope
That bears our fainting spirits up;
We read the grace, we trust the word,
And find salvation in the Lord.
5 Let men or angels dig the mines
Where nature's golden treasure shines,
Brought near the doctrine of the cross
All nature's gold appears but dross. ”

“ Treasures of grace to them are given,
And crowns of joy laid up in heaven.]
2 [Bless'd are the men of broken heart,
Who mourn for sin with inward smart;
The blood of Christ divinely flows,
A healing balm for all their woes.]
3 [Bless'd are the meek, who stand afar
From rage and passion, noise and war;
God will secure their happy state,
And plead their cause against the great.]
4 [Bless'd are the souls that thirst for grace,
Hunger and long for righteousness,
They shall be well supply'd and fed,
With living streams and living bread.] ”

“ To seize our lives away.
5 Our breath is forfeited by sin
To God's revenging law;
We own thy grace, immortal King,
In every gasp we draw.
6 God is our sun, whose daily light
Our joy and safety brings:
Our feeble flesh lies safe at night
Beneath his shady wings.
Hymn 2:9.
Godly sorrow arising from the sufferings of Christ.
1 Alas! and did my Saviour bleed,
And did my Sovereign die?
Would he devote that sacred head
For such a worm as I?
2 [Thy body slain, sweet Jesus, thine,
And bath'd in its own blood,
While all expos'd to wrath divine
The glorious Sufferer stood.] ”

“ From sin, and earth, and hell,
In the new-world that grace has made
I would for ever dwell.
Hymn 2:131.
The excellency of the Christian religion.
1 Let everlasting glories crown
Thy head, my Saviour and my Lord;
Thy hands have brought salvation down,
And writ the blessings in thy word.
2 [What if we trace the globe around,
And search from Britain to Japan,
There shall be no religion found
So just to God, so safe for man.]
3 In vain the trembling conscience seeks
Some solid ground to rest upon;
With long despair the spirit breaks,
Till we apply to Christ alone. ”

“ To every soul that trusts in him.
2 Jesus, thy witness speaks within:
The mercy which thy words reveal
Refines the heart from sense and sin,
And stamps its own celestial seal.
3 'Tis God's inimitable hand
That moulds and forms the heart anew;
Blasphemers can no more withstand,
But bow and own thy doctrine true.
4 The guilty wretch that trusts thy blood,
Finds peace and pardon at thy cross;
The sinful soul averse to God,
Believes and loves his Maker's laws.
5 Learning and wit may cease their strife,
When miracles with glory shine ”

“ How frail are we, how glorious thou!
No more the sons of earth shall dare
With an eternal God compare.
Hymn 1:83.
Afflictions and death under providence, Job 5. 6 7 8.
1 Not from the dust affliction grows,
Nor troubles rise by chance;
Yet we are born to care and woes,
A sad inheritance.
2 As sparks break out from burning coals,
And still are upwards borne;
So grief is rooted in our souls,
And man grows up to mourn.
3 Yet with my God I leave my cause,
And trust his promis'd grace;
He rules me by his well-known laws
Of love and righteousness. ”

“ Holiness and grace, Titus 2. 10-13.
1 So let our lips and lives express
The holy gospel we profess,
So let our works and virtues shine
To prove the doctrine all divine.
2 Thus shall we best proclaim abroad
The honours of our saviour God;
When the salvation reigns within,
And grace subdues the power of sin.
3 Our flesh and sense must be deny'd,
Passion and envy, lust and pride;
While justice, temperance, truth and love
Our inward piety approve.
4 Religion bears our spirits up,
While we expect that blessed hope,
The bright appearance of the Lord,
And faith stands leaning on his word. ”

“ Salvation by grace, Titus 3. 3-7.
1 [Lord, we confess our numerous faults,
How great our guilt has been!
Foolish and vain were all our thoughts,
And all our lives were sin.
2 But O, my soul, for ever praise,
For ever love his Name,
Who turns thy feet from dangerous ways
Of folly, sin, and shame.]
3 ['Tis not by works of righteousness
Which our own hands have done;
But we are sav'd by sovereign grace
Abounding thro' his Son.]
4 'Tis from the mercy of our God
That all our hopes begin;
'Tis by the water and the blood
Our souls are wash'd from sin. ”

“ And following sin and shame
In this vile world of flesh and blood
Defil'd my nobler frame!
3 For ever blessed be thy grace
That form'd my soul anew,
And made it of an heaven-born race,
Thy glory to pursue.
4 My spirit holds perpetual war,
And wrestles and complains;
But views the happy moment near
That shall dissolve its chains.
5 Cheerful in death I close my eyes,
To part with every lust ”

“ Earth is too narrow to express
His worth, his glory, or his grace.
2 [The whole creation can afford
But some faint shadows of my Lord:
Nature to make his beauties known
Must mingle colours not her own.]
3 [Is he compar'd to wine or bread?
Dear Lord, our souls would thus be fed;
That flesh, that dying blood of thine,
Is bread of life, is heavenly wine.]
4 [Is he a tree? The world receives
Salvation from his healing leaves;
That righteous branch, that fruitful bough,
Is David's root and offspring too.] ”

“ Of never-failing grace,
Behold a dying Saviour's veins
The sacred flood increase:
5 It rises high and drowns the hills,
'T has neither shore nor bound:
Nor if we search to find our sins,
Our sins can ne'er be found.
6 Awake, our hearts, adore the grace
That buries all our faults,
And pardoning blood that swells above
Our follies and our thoughts.
Hymn 2:86.
Freedom from sin and misery in heaven.
1 Our sins, alas, how strong they be! ”

“ Yet with the bounties of thy grace
Thou load'st the rolling year.
5 'Tis sovereign mercy finds us food,
And we are cloth d with love;
While grace stands pointing out the road
That leads our souls above.
6 His goodness runs an endless round;
All glory to the Lord:
His mercy never knows a bound,
And be his Name ador'd!
7 Thus we begin the lasting song,
And when we close our eyes,
Let the next age thy praise prolong
Till time and nature dies. ”

“ Can equal thanks repay.
7 Our hymns should sound like those above,
Could we our voices raise;
Yet, Lord, our hearts shall all be love,
And all our lives be praise.
Hymn 3:17.
Incomparable food; or,
The flesh and blood of Christ.
1 [We sing th' amazing deeds
That grace divine performs;
Th' eternal God comes down and bleeds
To nourish dying worms.
2 This soul reviving wine,
Dear Saviour, 'tis thy blood;
We thank that sacred flesh of thine
For this immortal food.]
3 The banquet that we eat
Is made of heavenly things,
Earth hath no dainties half so sweet
As our Redeemer brings. ”

“ An unconverted state; or, Converting grace.
1 [Great King of Glory and of grace,
We own with humble shame,
How vile is our degenerate race,
And our first father's name.]
2 From Adam flows our tainted blood,
The poison reigns within,
Makes us averse to all that's good,
And willing slaves to sin.
3 [Daily we break thy holy laws,
And then reject thy grace;
Engag'd in the old serpent's cause
Against our Maker's face.]
4 We live estrang'd afar from God,
And love the distance well;
With haste we run the dangerous road
That leads to death and hell. ”

“ No sin shall clog our winged zeal,
Or cool our burning love.
4 There shall we sit, and sing, and tell
The wonders of his grace,
Till heavenly raptures fire our hearts,
And smile in every face.
5 For ever his dear sacred Name
Shall dwell upon our tongue,
And Jesus and salvation be
The close of every song.
Hymn 2:87.
The divine glories above our reason.
1 How wond'rous great, how glorious bright
Must our Creator be,
Who dwells amidst the dazzling light
Of vast infinity! ”

“ Where lies our strength to do his will.
2 The law discovers guilt and sin,
And shews how vile our hearts have been;
Only the gospel can express
Forgiving love and cleansing grace.
3 What curses doth the law denounce
Against the man that fails but once!
But in the gospel Christ appears
Pardoning the guilt of numerous years.
4 My soul, no more attempt to draw
Thy life and comfort from the law,
Fly to the hope the gospel gives;
The man that trusts the promise lives. ”

“ The Christian treasure, 1 Cor. 3. 21.
1 How vast the treasure we possess!
How rich thy bounty, King of Grace!
This world is ours, and worlds to come
Earth is our lodge, and heaven our home.
2 All things are ours, the gifts of God;
The purchase of a Saviour's blood:
While the good Spirit shews us how
To use and to improve them too. ”

“ And seal my Saviour's love.
10 [Lord, cleanse my soul from sin,
Nor let thy grace depart;
Great Comforter, abide within,
And witness to my heart.]
Hymn 3:10.
Christ crucified; the wisdom and power of God.
1 Nature with open volume stands
To spread her Maker's praise abroad;
And every labour of his hands
Shews something worthy of a God.
2 But in the grace that rescu'd man
His brightest form of glory shines;
Here on the cross 'tis fairest drawn
In precious blood and crimson lines. ”

“ And by the gospel live.
2 [With inward gust their heart approves
All that the word relates;
They love the men their Father loves,
And hate the works he hates.]
3 [Not all the flattering baits on earth
Can make them slaves to lust;
They can't forget their heavenly birth,
Nor grovel in the dust.
4 Not all the chains that tyrants use
Shall bind their souls to vice;
Faith like a conqueror can produce
A thousand victories.]
5 [Grace like an uncorrupting seed
Abides and reigns within;
Immortal principles forbid
The sons of God to sin.] ”

“ In his own vital blood:
3 The Lamb that freed my captive soul
From Satan's heavy chains,
And sent the lion down to howl
Where hell and horror reigns.
4 All glory to the dying Lamb,
And never ceasing praise,
While angels live to know his Name,
Or saints to feel his grace.
Hymn 2:30.
Heavenly joy on earth.
1 [Come, we that love the Lord,
And let our joys be known;
Join in a song with sweet accord,
And thus surround the throne.
2 The sorrows of the mind
Be banish'd from the place!
Religion never was design'd
To make our pleasures less.] ”

“ Yet hear a Saviour's blood;
An Advocate so near the throne
Pleads and prevails with God.
5 He bought the Spirit's powerful sword
To slay our deadly foes;
Our sins shall die beneath thy word,
And hell in vain oppose.
6 How boundless is our Father's grace,
In height and depth, and length!
He makes his Son our righteousness,
His Spirit is our strength.
Hymn 2:164.
The end of the world.
1 Why should this earth delight us so?
Why should we fix our eyes
On these low grounds where sorrows grow,
And every pleasure dies? ”

“ Doxologies.
Hymn 3:26. 1st. L.M.
A song of praise to the ever-blessed Trinity,
God in Father, Son, and Spirit.
1 Bless'd be the Father and his love:
To whose celestial source we owe
Rivers of endless joy above,
And rills of comfort here below.
2 Glory to thee, great Son of God,
From whose dear wounded body rolls
A precious stream of vital blood,
Pardon and life for dying souls.
3 We give the sacred Spirit praise,
Who in our hearts of sin and woe
Makes living springs of grace arise,
And into boundless glory flow. ”

“ The priesthood of Christ.
1 Blood has a voice to pierce the skies Revenge, the blood of Abel cries; But the dear stream when Christ was slain Speaks Peace as loud from ev'ry vein.
2 Pardon and peace from God on high,
Behold he lays his vengeance by,
And rebels that deserv'd his sword,
Become the favourites of the Lord.
3 To Jesus let our praises rise,
Who gave his life a sacrifice ”