Book 2 · Hymns 131–140

Hymns and Spiritual Songs · Isaac Watts

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.

4 How well thy blessed truths agree!
How wise and holy thy commands!
Thy promises how firm they be!
How firm our hope and comfort stands!

5 [Not the feign'd fields of heathenish bliss
Could raise such pleasures in the mind;
Nor does the Turkish paradise
Pretend to joys so well refin'd.]

6 Should all the forms that men devise
Assault my faith with treacherous art,
I'd call them vanity and lies
And bind the gospel to my heart.

Hymn 2:132. The offices of Christ.

1 We bless the Prophet of the Lord,
That comes with truth and grace;
Jesus, thy Spirit and thy word
Shall lead us in thy ways.

2 We reverence our High Priest above,
Who offer'd up his blood,
And lives to carry on his love,
By pleading with our God.

3 We honour our exalted King,
How sweet are his commands!
He guards our souls from hell and sin
By his almighty hands.

4 Hosanna to his glorious Name,
Who saves by different ways;
His mercies lay a sovereign claim
To our immortal praise.

Hymn 2:133. The operations of the Holy Spirit.

1 Eternal Spirit! we confess
And sing the wonders of thy grace;
Thy power conveys our blessings down
From God the Father and the Son.

2 Enlighten'd by thine heavenly ray
Our shades and darkness turn to day;
Thine inward teachings make us know
Our danger and our refuge too.

3 Thy power and glory works within,
And breaks the chains of reigning sin,
Doth our imperious lusts subdue,
And forms our wretched hearts anew.

4 The troubled conscience knows thy voice,
Thy cheering words awake our joys;
Thy words allay the stormy wind,
And calm the surges of the mind.

Hymn 2:134. Circumcision abolished.

1 The promise was divinely free,
Extensive was the grace;
"I will the God of Abrah'm be,
"And of his numerous race."

2 He said; and with a bloody seal
Confirm'd the words he spoke;
Long did the Sons of Abrah'm feel
The sharp and painful yoke.

3 Till God's own Son, descending low,
Gave his own flesh to bleed;
And Gentiles taste the blessing now,
From the hard bondage freed.

4 The God of Abrah'm claims our praise,
His promises endure;
And Christ the Lord in gentler ways
Makes the salvation sure.

Hymn 2:135. Types and prophecies of Christ.

1 Behold the woman's promis'd seed!
Behold the great Messiah come!
Behold the prophets all agreed
To give him the superior room!

2 Abrah'm the saint rejoic'd of old
When visions of the Lord he saw;
Moses the man of God foretold
This great fulfiller of his law.

3 The types bore witness to his Name,
Obtain'd their chief design, and ceas'd;
The incense and the bleeding lamb,
The ark, the altar, and the priest.

4 Predictions in abundance meet
To join their blessings on his head;
Jesus, we worship at thy feet,
And nations own the promis'd seed.

Hymn 2:136. Miracles at the birth of Christ.

1 The King of Glory sends his Son
To make his entrance on this earth!
Behold the midnight bright as noon,
And heavenly hosts declare his birth!

2 About the young Redeemer's head
What wonders and what glories meet!
An unknown star arose, and led
The eastern sages to his feet.

3 Simeon and Anna both conspire
The Infant-Saviour to proclaim;
Inward they felt the sacred fire,
And bless'd the babe, and own'd his Name.

4 Let Jews and Greeks blaspheme aloud,
And treat the holy Child with scorn;
Our souls adore th' eternal God
Who condescended to be born.

Hymn 2:137. Miracles in the life, death, and resurrection of Christ.

1 Behold the blind their sight receive;
Behold the dead awake and live;
The dumb speak wonders, and the lame
Leap like the hart, and bless his Name.

2 Thus doth th' eternal Spirit own
And seal the mission of the Son;
The Father vindicates his cause,
While he hangs bleeding on the cross.

3 He dies; the heavens in mourning stood;
He rises, and appears a God;
Behold the Lord ascending high,
No more to bleed, no more to die.

4 Hence and for ever from my heart
I bid my doubts and fears depart;
And to those hands my soul resign
Which bear credentials so divine.

Hymn 2:138. The power of the gospel.

1 This is the word of truth and love,
Sent to the nations from above;
Jehovah here resolves to shew
What his almighty grace can do.

2 This remedy did wisdom find
To heal diseases of the mind:
This sovereign balm, whose virtues can
Restore the ruin'd creature, man.

3 The gospel bids the dead revive,
Sinners obey the voice, and live;
Dry bones are rais'd and cloth'd afresh,
And hearts of stone are turn'd to flesh.

4 [Where Satan reign'd in shades of night
The gospel strikes a heavenly light;
Our lusts its wondrous power controls,
And calms the rage of angry souls.]

5 [Lions and beasts of savage name
Put on the nature of the lamb;
Whilst the wild world esteems it strange
Gaze, and admire, and hate the change.]

6 May but this grace my soul renew,
Let sinners gaze and hate me too;
The word that saves me does engage
A sure defence from all their rage.

Hymn 2:139. The example of Christ.

1 My dear Redeemer and my Lord,
I read my duty in thy word;
But in thy life the law appears
Drawn out in living characters.

2 Such was thy truth, and such thy zeal,
Such deference to thy Father's will,
Such love, and meekness so divine,
I would transcribe, and make them mine.

3 Cold mountains and the midnight air
Witness'd the fervor of thy prayer:
The desert thy temptations knew,
Thy conflict and thy victory too.

4 Be thou my pattern; make me bear
More of thy gracious image here;
Then God the Judge shall own my name,
Amongst the followers of the Lamb.

Hymn 2:140. The example: of Christ and the saints.

1 Give me the wings of faith to rise
Within the veil, and see
The saints above, how great their joys,
How bright their glories be.

2 Once they were mourning here below,
And wet their couch with tears;
They wrestled hard, as we do now,
With sins, and doubts, and fears.

3 I ask them whence their victory came,
They, with united breath,
Ascribe their conquest to the Lamb,
Their triumph to his death.

4 They mark'd the footsteps that he trod,
(His zeal inspir'd their breast;)
And following their incarnate God
Possess the promis'd rest.

5 Our glorious Leader claims our praise
For his own pattern given,
While the long cloud of witnesses
Shew the same path to heaven.

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