Psalms Of Watts 136-140
The
Psalms Of David
By Isaac Watts
In Metre
Isaac Watts did not write Psalms in Metre for Psalms 137 and 140.
Psalm 136.
God's wonders of creation, providence, redemption
of Israel, and salvation of his people.
1 Give thanks to God the sovereign Lord;
His mercies still endure!
And be the King of kings ador'd;
His truth is ever sure.
2 What wonders hath his wisdom done!
How mighty is his hand!
Heaven, earth, and sea, he fram'd alone:
How wide is his command!
3 The sun supplies the day with light;
How bright his counsels shine!
The moon and stars adorn the night;
His works are all divine!
4 [He struck the sons of Egypt dead;
How dreadful is his rod!
And thence with joy his people led:
How gracious is our God!
5 He cleft the swelling sea in two;
His arm is great in might,
And gave the tribes a passage thro';
His power and grace unite.
6 But Pharaoh's army there he drown'd;
How glorious are his ways!
And brought his saints thro' desert ground;
Eternal be his praise.
7 Great monarchs fell beneath his hand,
Victorious is his sword;
While Israel took the promis'd land;
And faithful is his word.]
8 He saw the nations dead in sin;
He felt his pity move:
How sad the state the world was in!
How boundless was his love!
9 He sent to save us from our woe;
His goodness never fails;
From death, and hell, and every foe;
And still his grace prevails.
10 Give thanks to God the heavenly King;
His mercies still endure!
Let the whole earth his praises sing;
His truth is ever sure.
Psalm 136.
God's wonders of creation, providence, redemption
of Israel, and salvation of his people.
1 Give thanks to God most high,
The universal Lord;
The sovereign King of kings;
And be his grace ador'd.
His power and grace
Are still the same;
And let his name
Have endless praise.
2 How mighty is his hand!
What wonders hath he done!
He form'd the earth and seas,
And spread the heavens alone.
Thy mercy, Lord,
Shall still endure;
And ever sure
Abides thy word.
3 His wisdom fram'd the sun
To crown the day with light;
The moon and twinkling stars
To cheer the darksome night.
His power and grace
Are still the same;
And let his name
Have endless praise.
4 [He smote the first-born sons,
The flower of Egypt, dead:
And thence his chosen tribes
With joy and glory led.
Thy mercy, Lord,
Shall still endure;
And ever sure
Abides thy word.
5 His power and lifted rod
Cleft the Red Sea in two:
And for his people made
A wondrous passage thro'.
His power and grace
Are still the same;
And let his name
Have endless praise.
6 But cruel Pharaoh there
With all his host he drown'd;
And brought his Israel safe
Thro' a long desert ground.
Thy mercy, Lord,
Shall still endure;
And ever sure
Abides thy word.
PAUSE.
The kings of Canaan fell
Beneath his dreadful hand:
While his own servants took
Possession of their land.
His power and grace
Are still the same;
And let his name
Have endless praise.]
8 He saw the nations lie
All perishing in sin,
And pity'd the sad state
The ruin'd world was in.
Thy mercy, Lord,
Shall still endure;
And ever sure
Abides thy word.
9 He sent his only Son
To save us from our woe,
From Satan, sin, and death,
And every hurtful foe.
His power and grace
Are still the same;
And let his name
Have endless praise.
10 Give thanks aloud to God,
To God the heavenly King;
And let the spacious earth
His works and glories sing.
Thy mercy, Lord,
Shall still endure;
And ever sure
Abides thy word.
Psalm 136 - Abridged.
God's wonders of creation, providence,
redemption and salvation.
1 Give to our God immortal praise;
Mercy and truth are all his ways:
Wonders of grace to God belong,
Repeat his mercies in your song.
2 Give to the Lord of lords renown,
The King of kings with glory crown:
His mercies ever shall endure,
When lords and kings are known no more.
3 He built the earth, he spread the sky,
And fix'd the starry lights on high;
Wonders of grace to God belong,
Repeat his mercies in your song.
4 He fills the sun with morning light,
He bids the moon direct the night:
His mercies ever shall endure,
When suns and moons shall shine no more.
5 The Jews he freed from Pharaoh's hand,
And brought them to the promis'd land;
Wonders of grace to God belong,
Repeat his mercies in your song.
6 He saw the Gentiles dead in sin,
And felt his pity work within:
His mercies ever shall endure,
When death and sin shall reign no more.
7 He sent his Son with power to save
From guilt, and darkness, and the grave:
Wonders of grace to God belong,
Repeat his mercies in your song.
8 Thro' this vain world he guides our feet,
And leads us to his heavenly seat:
His mercies ever shall endure,
When this vain world shall be no more.
Psalm 138.
Restoring and preserving grace.
1 [With all my powers of heart and tongue
I'll praise my Maker in my song:
Angels shall hear the notes I raise,
Approve the song, and join the praise.
2 Angels that make thy church their care
Shall witness my devotions there,
While holy zeal directs my eyes
To thy fair temple in the skies.]
3 I'll sing thy truth and mercy, Lord,
I'll sing the wonders of thy word;
Not all thy works and names below
So much thy power and glory show.
4 To God I cry'd when troubles rose;
He heard me, and subdu'd my foes,
He did my rising fears control,
And strength diffus'd thro' all my soul.
5 The God of heaven maintains his state,
Frowns on the proud and scorns the great;
But from his throne descends to see
The sons of humble poverty.
6 Amidst a thousand snares I stand
Upheld and guarded by thy hand;
Thy words my fainting soul revive,
And keep my dying faith alive.
7 Grace will complete what grace begins,
To save from sorrows or from sins;
The work that wisdom undertakes
Eternal mercy ne'er forsakes.
Psalm 139 - Part One.
The all-seeing God.
1 Lord, thou hast search'd and seen me thro';
Thine eye commands with piercing view
My rising and my resting hours,
My heart and flesh with all their powers.
2 My thoughts, before they are my own,
Are to my God distinctly known;
He knows the words I mean to speak
Ere from my opening lips they break.
3 Within thy circling power I stand;
On every side I find thy hand:
Awake, asleep, at home, abroad,
I am surrounded still with God.
4 Amazing knowledge, vast and great!
What large extent! what lofty height!
My soul, with all the powers I boast,
Is in the boundless prospect lost.
5 O may these thoughts possess my breast,
Where'er I rove where'er I rest!
Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to sin, for God is there.
PAUSE I.
6 Could I so false, so faithless prove,
To quit thy service and thy love,
Where, Lord, could I thy presence shun,
Or from thy dreadful glory run?
7 If up to heaven I take my flight,
'Tis there thou dwell'st enthron'd in light;
Or dive to hell, there vengeance reigns,
And Satan groans beneath thy chains.
8 If mounted on a morning ray,
I fly beyond the western sea,
Thy swifter hand would first arrive,
And there arrest thy fugitive.
9 Or should I try to shun thy sight
Beneath the spreading veil of night,
One glance of thine, one piercing ray,
Would kindle darkness into day.
10 O may these thoughts possess my breast,
Where'er I rove, where'er I rest!
Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to sin, for God is there.
PAUSE II.
11 The veil of night is no disguise,
No screen from thy all-searching eyes;
Thy hand can seize thy foes as soon,
Thro' midnight shades as blazing noon.
12 Midnight and noon in this agree,
Great God, they're both alike to thee:
Not death can hide what God will spy,
And hell lies naked to his eye.
13 O may these thoughts possess my breast,
Where'er I rove where'er I rest!
Nor let my weaker passions dare
Consent to sin, for God is there.
Psalm 139 - Part Two.
The wonderful formation of man.
1 'Twas from thy hand, my God, I came,
A work of such a curious frame;
In me thy fearful wonders shine,
And each proclaims thy skill divine.
2 Thine eyes did all my limbs survey,
Which yet in dark confusion lay;
Thou saw'st the daily growth they took,
Form'd by the model of thy book.
3 By thee my growing parts were nam'd,
And what thy sovereign counsels fram'd,
(The breathing lungs, the beating heart)
Was copy'd with unerring art.
4 At last, to shew my Maker's name,
God stamp'd his image on my frame,
And in some unknown moment join'd
The finish'd members to the mind.
5 There the young seeds of thought began
And all the passions of the man:
Great God, our infant nature pays
Immortal tribute to thy praise.
PAUSE.
6 Lord, since in my advancing age
I've acted on life's busy stage,
Thy thoughts of love to me surmount
The power of numbers to recount.
7 I could survey the ocean o'er,
And count each sand that makes the shore,
Before my swiftest thoughts could trace
The numerous wonders of thy grace.
8 These on my heart are still impress'd,
With these I give my eyes to rest;
And at my waking hour I find
God and his love possess my mind.
Psalm 139 - Part Three.
Sincerity professed, and grace tried; or,
The heart-searching God.
1 My God, what inward grief I feel
When impious men transgress thy will!
I mourn to hear their lips profane
Take thy tremendous name in vain.
2 Does not my soul detest and hate
The sons of malice and deceit?
Those that oppose thy laws and thee,
I count them enemies to me.
3 Lord, search my soul, try every thought;
Tho' my own heart accuse me not
Of walking in a false disguise,
I beg the trial of thine eyes.
4 Doth secret mischief lurk within?
Do I indulge some unknown sin?
O turn my feet whene'er I stray,
And lead me in thy perfect way.
Psalm 139 - Part One.
God is everywhere.
1 In all my vast concerns with thee
In vain my soul would try
To shun thy presence, Lord, or flee
The notice of thine eye.
2 Thy all-surrounding sight surveys
My rising and my rest,
My public walks, my private ways,
And secrets of my breast.
3 My thoughts lie open to the Lord
Before they're form'd within:
And ere my lips pronounce the word,
He knows the sense I mean.
4 O wondrous knowledge, deep and high!
Where can a creature hide?
Within thy circling arms I lie,
Beset on every side.
5 So let thy grace surround me still,
And like a bulwark prove,
To guard my soul from every ill,
Secur'd by sovereign love.
PAUSE.
6 Lord, where shall guilty souls retire,
Forgotten and unknown?
In hell they meet thy dreadful fire,
In heaven thy glorious throne.
7 Should I suppress my vital breath
To 'scape the wrath divine,
Thy voice would break the bars of death,
And make the grave resign.
8 If wing'd with beams of morning light,
I fly beyond the west,
Thy hand, which must support my flight,
Would soon betray my rest.
9 If o'er my sins I think to draw
The curtains of the night,
Those flaming eyes that guard thy law
Would turn the shades to light..
10 The beams of noon, the midnight hour,
Are both alike to thee:
O may I ne'er provoke that power
From which I cannot flee!
Psalm 139 - Part Two.
The wisdom of God in the formation of man.
1 When I with pleasing wonder stand,
And all my frame survey,
Lord, 'tis thy work; I own thy hand
Thus built my humble clay.
2 Thy hand my heart and reins possessed
Where unborn nature grew,
Thy wisdom all my features trac'd,
And all my members drew.
3 Thine eye with nicest care survey'd
The growth of every part;
Till the whole scheme thy thoughts had laid
Was copied by thy art.
4 Heaven, earth, and sea, and fire, and wind,
Shew me thy wondrous skill;
But I review myself, and find
Diviner wonders still.
5 Thy awful glories round me shine,
My flesh proclaims thy praise;
Lord, to thy works of nature join
Thy miracles of grace.
Psalm 139 - Part Three.
Verses 14, 17, 18.
The mercies of God innumerable.
An evening psalm.
1 Lord, when I count thy mercies o'er,
They strike me with surprise;
Not all the sands that spread the shore
To equal numbers rise.
2 My flesh with fear and wonder stands,
The product of thy skill,
And hourly blessings from thy hands,
Thy thoughts of love reveal.
3 These on my heart by night I keep;
How kind, how dear to me!
O may the hour that ends my sleep
Still find my thoughts with thee.
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