Book 1 · Hymns 81–90

Hymns and Spiritual Songs · Isaac Watts

Hymn 1:81. A song for morning or evening, Lam. 3. 23. Isa. 45. 7.

1 My God, how endless is thy love!
Thy gifts are every evening new;
And morning mercies from above
Gently distil like early dew.

2 Thou spreadst the curtains of the night,
Great guardian of my sleeping hours;
Thy sovereign word restores the light,
And quickens all my drowsy powers.

3 I yield my powers to thy command,
To thee I consecrate my days;
Perpetual blessings from thine hand
Demand perpetual songs of praise.

Hymn 1:82. God far above creatures; or, Man vain and mortal, Job 4. 77-21.

1 Shall the vile race of flesh and blood
Contend with their creator, God?
Shall mortal worms presume to be
More holy, wise, or just than he?

2 Behold he puts his trust in none
Of all the spirits round his throne;
Their natures, when compar'd with his
Are neither holy, just nor wise.

3 But how much meaner things are they
Who spring from dust and dwell in clay!
Touch'd by the finger of thy wrath,
We faint and vanish like the moth.

4 From night to day, from day to night,
We die by thousands in thy sight;
Bury'd in dust whole nations lie
Like a forgotten vanity.

5 Almighty power, to thee we bow;
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.

4 Not all the pains that e'er I bore
Shall spoil my future peace,
For death and hell can do no more
Than what my Father please.

Hymn 1:84. Salvation, righteousness, and strength in Christ, Isa. 45. 21 25.

1 Jehovah speaks, let Israel hear,
Let all the earth rejoice and fear,
While God's eternal Son proclaims
His sovereign honours and his names:

2 "I am the last, and I the first,
"The Saviour God, and God the just;
"There's none beside pretends to shew
"Such justice and salvation too.

3 "[Ye that in shades of darkness dwell,
"Just on the verge of death and hell,
"Look up to me from distant lands,
"Light, life and heaven are in my hands.

4 "I by my holy Name have sworn,
"Nor shall the word in vain return,
"To me shall all things bend the knee,
"And every tongue shall swear to me.]

5 "In me alone shall men confess
"Lies all their strength and righteousness;
"But such as dare despise my Name,
"I'll clothe them with eternal shame.

6 "In me the Lord, shall all the seed
"Of Israel from their sins be freed,
"And by their shining graces prove
"Their interest in my pardoning love."

Hymn 1:85. The same.

1 The Lord on high proclaims
His Godhead from his throne;
"Mercy and justice are the names
"By which I will be known.

2 "Ye dying souls that sit
"In darkness and distress,
"Look from the borders of the pit
"To my recovering grace."

3 Sinners shall hear the sound;
Their thankful tongues shall own,
"Our righteousness and strength is found
"In thee, the Lord, alone."

4 In thee shall Israel trust,
And see their guilt forgiven;
God will pronounce the sinners just,
And take the saints to heaven.

Hymn 1:86. God holy, just, and sovereign. Job 9. 2-10.

1 How should the sons of Adam's race
Be pure before their God?
If he contend in righteousness
We fall beneath his rod.

2 To vindicate my words and thoughts
I'll make no more pretence;
Not one of all my thousand faults
Can bear a just defence.

3 Strong is his arm, his heart is wise;
What vain presumers dare
Against their Maker's hand to rise,
Or tempt th' unequal war?

4 [Mountains by his almighty wrath
From their old seats are torn;
He shakes the earth from south to north,
And all her pillars mourn.

5 He bids the sun forbear to rise,
Th' obedient sun forbears:
His hand with sackcloth spreads the skies,
And seals up all the stars.

6 He walks upon the stormy sea
Flies on the stormy wind;
There's none can trace his wondrous way,
Or his dark footsteps find.]

Hymn 1:87. God dwells with the humble and penitent, Isa. 57. 15 16.

1 Thus saith the High and Lofty One,
"I sit upon my holy throne,
"My name is God, I dwell on high,
"Dwell in my own eternity.

2 "But I descend to worlds below,
"On earth I have a mansion too,
"The humble spirit and contrite
"Is an abode of my delight.

3 "The humble soul my words revive,
"I bid the mourning sinner live,
"Heal all the broken hearts I find,
"And ease the sorrows of the mind.

4 "When I contend against their sin
"I make them know how vile they've been;
"But should my wrath for ever smoke,
"Their souls would sink beneath my stroke."]

5 O may thy pardoning grace be nigh,
Lest we should faint, despair, and die!
Thus shall our better thoughts approve
The methods of thy chastening love.

Hymn 1:88. Life the day of grace and hope. Eccles. 9. 4 3 6 10.

1 Life is the time to serve the Lord,
The time t' insure the great reward;
And while the lamp holds out to burn
The vilest sinner may return.

2 [Life is the hour that God has given
To 'scape from hell, and fly to heaven,
The day of grace, and mortals may
Secure the blessings of the day.]

3 The living know that they must die,
But all the dead forgotten lie,
Their memory and their sense is gone,
Alike unknowing and unknown.

4 [Their hatred and their love is lost,
Their envy bury'd in the dust;
They have no share in all that's done
Beneath the circuit of the sun.]

5 Then what my thoughts design to do,
My hands, with all your might pursue,
Since no device, nor work is found,
Nor faith, nor hope beneath the ground.

6 There are no acts of pardon past
In the cold grave to which we haste,
But darkness, death, and long despair
Reign in eternal silence there.

Hymn 1:89. Youth and judgment, Eccles. 11. 9.

1 Ye sons of Adam, vain and young,
Indulge your eyes, indulge your tongue,
Taste the delight your souls desire,
And give a loose to all your fire.

2 Pursue the pleasures ye design,
And cheer your hearts with songs and wine,
Enjoy the day of mirth; but know
There is a day of judgment too.

3 God from on high beholds your thoughts,
His book records your secret faults;
The works of darkness you have done
Must all appear before the sun.

4 The vengeance to your follies due
Should strike your hearts with terror thro':
How will ye stand before his face,
Or answer for his injur'd grace?

5 Almighty God, turn off their eyes
From these alluring vanities;
And let the thunder of thy word
Awake their souls to fear the Lord.

Hymn 1:90. The same.

1 Lo the young tribes of Adam rise,
And thro' all nature rove,
Fulfil the wishes of their eyes,
And taste the joys they love.

2 They give a loose to wild desires,
But let the sinners know,
The strict account that God requires
Of all the works they do.

3 The Judge prepares his throne on high,
The frighted earth and seas
Avoid the fury of his eye,
And flee before his face.

4 How shall I bear that dreadful day,
And stand the fiery test?
I give all mortal joys away
To be for ever blest.

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