Library · Hymns and Spiritual Songs
Book 2 · Hymns 51–60
Hymns and Spiritual Songs · Isaac Watts
Hymn 2:51. God the Son equal with the Father.
1 Bright King of Glory, dreadful God!
Our spirits bow before thy seat,
To thee we lift an humble thought,
And worship at thine awful feet.
2 [Thy power hath form'd, thy wisdom sways
All nature with a sovereign word;
And the bright world of stars obeys
The will of their superior Lord.]
3 [Mercy and truth unite in one,
And smiling sit at thy right-hand;
Eternal justice guards thy throne,
And vengeance waits thy dread command.]
4 A thousand seraphs strong and bright
Stand round the glorious Deity;
But who amongst the sons of light
Pretends comparison with thee?
5 Yet there is one of human frame,
Jesus, array'd in flesh and blood,
Thinks it no robbery to claim
A full equality with God.
6 Their glory shines with equal beams;
Their essence is for ever one,
Tho' they are known by different names
The Father God, and God the Son.
7 Then let the name of Christ our King
With equal honours be ador'd;
His praise let every angel sing,
And all the nations own their Lord.
Hymn 2:52. Death dreadful or delightful.
1 Death! 'tis a melancholy day
To those that have no God,
When the poor soul is forc'd away
To seek her last abode.
2 In vain to heaven she lifts her eyes,
But guilt, a heavy chain,
Still drags her downward from the skies
To darkness, fire, and pain.
3 Awake and mourn, ye heirs of hell,
Let stubborn sinners fear,
You must be driven from earth, and dwell
A long for-ever there.
4 See how the pit gapes wide for you,
And flashes in your face,
And thou, my soul, look downwards too,
And sing recovering grace.
5 He is a God of sovereign love
That promis'd heaven to me,
And taught my thoughts to soar above,
Where happy spirits be.
6 Prepare me, Lord, for thy right-hand,
Then come the joyful day,
Come death, and some celestial band,
To bear my soul away.
Hymn 2:53. The pilgrimage of the saints; or, Earth and heaven.
1 Lord! what a wretched land is this
That yields us no supply!
No cheering fruits no wholesome trees,
Nor streams of living joy!
2 But pricking thorns thro' all the ground
And mortal poisons grow,
And all the rivers that are found
With dangerous waters flow.
3 Yet the clear path to thine abode
Lies thro' this horrid land;
Lord! we would keep the heavenly road,
And run at thy command.
4 [Our souls shall tread the desert thro'
With undiverted feet;
And faith and flaming zeal subdue
The terrors that we meet.]
5 [A thousand savage beasts of prey
Around the forest roam;
But Judah's lion guards the way,
And guides the strangers home.]
6 [Long nights and darkness dwell below,
With scarce a twinkling ray;
But the bright world to which we go
Is everlasting day.]
7 [By glimmering hopes and gloomy fears
We trace the sacred road,
Thro' dismal deeps and dangerous snares
We make our way to God.]
8 Our journey is a thorny maze,
But we march upward still;
Forget these troubles of the ways,
And reach at Zion's hill.
9 [See the kind angels at the gates,
Inviting us to come;
There Jesus the fore-runner waits
To welcome travellers home.]
10 There on a green and flowery mount
Our weary souls shall sit,
And with transporting joys recount
The labours of our feet.
11 [No vain discourse shall fill our tongue,
Nor trifles vex our ear,
Infinite grace shall be our song,
And God rejoice to hear.]
12 Eternal glories to the King
That brought us safely thro';
Our tongues shall never cease to sing,
And endless praise renew.
Hymn 2:54. God's presence is light in darkness.
1 My God, the spring of all my joys,
The life of my delights,
The glory of my brightest days,
And comfort of my nights.
2 In darkest shades if he appear,
My dawning is begun;
He is my soul's sweet morning star
And he my rising sun.
3 The opening heavens around me shine
With beams of sacred bliss,
While Jesus shews his heart is mine,
And whispers, "I am his!"
4 My soul would leave this heavy clay
At that transporting word,
Run up with joy the shining way
T' embrace my dearest Lord.
5 Fearless of hell and ghastly death!
I'd break thro' every foe;
The wings of love, and arms of faith
Should bear me conqueror thro'.
Hymn 2:55. Frail life and succeeding eternity.
1 Thee we adore, eternal Name,
And humbly own to thee,
How feeble is our mortal frame!
What dying worms are we!
2 [Our wasting lives grow shorter still
As months and days increase;
And every beating pulse we tell
Leaves but the number less.
3 The year rolls round, and steals away
The breath that first it gave;
Whate'er we do, where'er we be,
We're travelling to the grave.
4 Dangers stand thick thro' all the ground
To push us to the tomb,
And fierce diseases wait around
To hurry mortals home.
5 Good God! on what a slender thread
Hang everlasting things!
Th' eternal states of all the dead
Upon life's feeble strings.
6 Infinite joy or endless woe
Attends on every breath;
And yet how unconcern'd we go
Upon the brink of death!
7 Waken, O Lord, our drowsy sense
To walk this dangerous road;
And if our souls are hurried hence,
May they be found with God!
Hymn 2:56. The misery of being without God in this world; or, Vain prosperity.
1 O, I shall envy them no more
Who grow profanely great,
Tho' they increase their golden store,
And rise to wondrous height.
2 They taste of all the joys that grow
Upon this earthly clod,
Well they may search the creature thro',
For they have ne'er a God.
3 Shake off the thoughts of dying too,
And think your life your own;
But death comes hastening on to you
To mow your glory down.
4 Yes, you must bow your stately head,
Away your spirit flies,
And no kind angel near your bed
To bear it to the skies.
5 Go now, and boast of all your stores,
And tell how bright you shine;
Your heaps of glittering dust are yours,
And my Redeemer's mine.
Hymn 2:57. The pleasures of a good conscience.
1 Lord, how secure and bless'd are they
Who feel the joys of pardon'd sin!
Should storms of wrath shake earth and sea,
Their minds have heaven and peace within.
2 The day glides sweetly o'er their heads,
Made up of innocence and love;
And soft and silent as the shades
Their nightly minutes gently move.
3 [Quick as their thoughts their joys come on,
But fly not half so fast away;
Their souls are ever bright as noon,
And calm as summer evenings be.
4 How oft they look to th' heavenly hills,
Where groves of living pleasure grow!
And longing hopes and cheerful smiles
Sit undisturb'd upon their brow.]
5 They scorn to seek our golden toys,
But spend the day and share the night
In numbering o'er the richer joys
That heaven prepares for their delight.
6 While wretched we, like worms and moles,
Lie grovelling in the dust below:
Almighty grace, renew our souls,
And we'll aspire to glory too.
Hymn 2:58 The shortness of life, and the goodness of God.
1 Time! what an empty vapour 'tis!
And days how swift they are!
Swift as an Indian arrow flies,
Or like a shooting star.
2 [The present moments just appear,
Then slide away in haste,
That we can never say, "They're here,"
But only say, "They're past."]
3 [Our life is ever on the wing,
And death is ever nigh;
The moment when our lives begin
We all begin to die.]
4 Yet, mighty God, our fleeting days
Thy lasting favours share,
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.
Hymn 2:59. Paradise on earth.
1 Glory to God that walks the sky,
And sends his blessings thro',
That tells his saints of joys on high,
And gives a taste below.
2 [Glory to God that stoops his throne
That dust and worms may see't,
And brings a glimpse of glory down
Around his sacred feet.
3 When Christ, with all his graces crown'd,
Sheds his kind beams abroad,
'Tis a young heaven on earthly ground,
And glory in the bud.
4 A blooming paradise of joy
In this wild desert springs;
And every sense I straight employ
On sweet celestial things.
5 White lilies all around appear,
And each his glory shows;
The rose of Sharon blossoms here,
The fairest flower that blows.
6 Cheerful I feast on heavenly fruit,
And drink the pleasures down,
Pleasures that flow hard by the foot
Of the eternal throne.]
7 But ah! how soon my joys decay,
How soon my sins arise,
And snatch the heavenly scene away
From these lamenting eyes!
8 When shall the time, dear Jesus, when
The shining day appear,
That I shall leave those clouds of sin,
And guilt and darkness here?
9 Up to the fields above the skies
My hasty feet would go,
There everlasting flowers arise,
And joys unwithering grow.
Hymn 2:60. The truth of God the promiser; or, The promises are our security.
1 Praise, everlasting praise be paid
To him that earth's foundations laid;
Praise to the God whose strong decrees
Sway the creation as he please.
2 Praise to the goodness of the Lord
Who rules his people by his word,
And there as strong as his decrees
He sets his kindest promises.
3 [Firm are the words his prophets give,
Sweet words on which his children live;
Each of them is the voice of God,
Who spoke and spread the skies abroad.
4 Each of them powerful as that sound
That bid the new-made heavens go round;
And stronger than the solid poles,
On which the wheel of nature rolls.]
5 Whence then should doubts and fears arise,
Why trickling sorrows drown our eyes?
Slowly, alas, our mind receives
The comforts that our Maker gives.
6 O for a strong, a lasting faith
To credit what th' almighty saith!
T' embrace the message of his Son,
And call the joys of heaven our own.
7 Then should the earth's old pillars shake,
And all the wheels of nature break,
Our steady souls should fear no more
Than solid rocks when billows roar.
8 Our everlasting hopes arise
Above the ruinable skies,
Where the eternal Builder reigns,
And his own courts his power sustains.