Category: Hymns

Singing Psalm 5 with Isaac Watts

On By BrianIn Hymns

Here is Psalm 5 paraphrased into Common Meter by Isaac Watts – along with a few adaptations. We sang it to the tune of “O God Our Help In Ages Past.”

Lord, in the morning thou shalt hear
My voice ascending high;
To thee will I direct my prayer,
To thee lift up mine eye….

Thou art a God, before whose sight
The wicked shall not stand;
Sinners shall ne’er be thy delight,
Nor dwell at thy right hand.

But to thy house will I resort,
To taste thy mercies there;
I will frequent thine holy court,
And worship in thy fear.

O may thy Spirit guide my feet
In ways of righteousness!
Make every path of duty straight,
And plain before my face.

My watchful enemies combine
To tempt my feet astray;
They flatter, with a base design
To make my soul their prey.

Lord, crush the serpent in the dust,
And all his plots destroy;
While those that in thy mercy trust,
For ever shout for joy.

The ones that love and fear thy name
Shall see their hopes fulfilled;
The mighty God will cover them
With favor as a shield.

Singing Psalm 4 with Isaac Watts

On By BrianIn Hymns

Here is Psalm 4 adapted into Long Meter by Isaac Watts – along with a few adaptations. We sang it to the tune of “I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day.”

O God of grace and righteousness,
Hear and attend when I complain;
Thou hast enlarged me in distress,
Bow down a gracious ear again.

Ye sons of men, in vain ye try
To turn my glory into shame;
How long will scoffers love to lie,
And dare reproach my Savior’s name?

Know that the Lord divides his saints
From all the tribes of men beside;
He hears the cry of penitents,
For the dear sake of Christ that died….

Let the unthinking many say,
“Who will bestow some earthly good?”
But, Lord, thy light and love we pray;
Our souls desire this heav’nly food.

Then shall my cheerful pow’rs rejoice,
At grace and favors so divine;
Nor will I change my happy choice
For all their corn and all their wine.

Thus, with my thoughts composed to pray,
I’ll give mine eyes to quiet sleep;
Thy hand in safety keeps my days,
And will all of my slumbers keep.

Singing Psalm 3 with Isaac Watts

On By BrianIn Hymns

Here is Psalm 3 paraphrased in Common Meter by Isaac Watts. We sang this one to the tun of “We Sing the Greatness of Our God.”

My God, how many are my fears!
How fast my foes increase!
Consp’ring my eternal death,
They break my present peace.
The lying tempter would persuade
There’s no relief in heav’n;
And all my swelling sins appear
Too big to be forgiv’n.

But thou, my glory and my strength,
Shalt on the tempter tread,
Shalt silence all my threatening guilt,
And raise my drooping head.
I cried, and from his holy hill
He bowed a listening ear;
I called my Father, and my God,
And he subdued my fear.

He shed soft slumbers on mine eyes,
In spite of all my foes;
I woke, and wondered at the grace
That guarded my repose.
What though the hosts of death and hell
All armed against me stood,
Terrors no more shall shake my soul;
My refuge is my God.

Arise, O Lord, fulfil thy grace,
While I thy glory sing;
My God has broke the serpent’s teeth,
And death has lost his sting.
Salvation to the Lord belongs;
His arm alone can save:
Blessings attend thy people here,
And reach beyond the grave.

Singing Psalm 2 with Isaac Watts

On By BrianIn Hymns

Here is Psalm 2 paraphrased in Common Meter by Isaac Watts. We sang it to the tune of “We Sing the Greatness of our God.”

Why did the nations join to slay
The Lord’s anointed Son?
Why did they cast his laws away,
And tread his gospel down?
The Lord, that sits above the skies,
Derides their rage below;
He speaks with vengeance in his eyes,
And strikes their spirits through.

“I call him my Eternal Son,
And raise him from the dead;
I make my holy hill his throne,
And wide his kingdom spread.
“Ask me, my Son, and then enjoy
The utmost heathen lands:
Thy rod of iron shall destroy
The rebel that withstands.”

Be wise, ye rulers of the earth,
Obey th’ anointed Lord,
Adore the King of heav’nly birth,
And tremble at his word.
With humble love address his throne;
For if he frown, ye die:
Those are secure, and those alone,
Who on his grace rely.

Singing Psalm 1 with Isaac Watts

On By BrianIn Hymns

Our church just started a sermon series on the Book of Psalms. After the sermon, we are singing the psalm as paraphrased by Isaac Watts who added meter and rhyme. Psalm 1 was written in Common Meter, and we sang it to the tune of one of his more familiar hymns – “We Sing the Greatness of Our God.”

Blest is the man who shuns the place
Where sinners love to meet;
Who fears to tread their wicked ways,
And hates the scoffer’s seat:
But in the statutes of the Lord
Has placed his chief delight;
By day he reads or hears the word,
And meditates by night.

Green as the leaf, and ever fair,
Shall his profession shine
While fruits of holiness appear
Like clusters on the vine.
Not so the impious…unjust;
What vain designs they form!
Their hopes are blown away like dust,
Or chaff before the storm.

Sinners in judgment shall not stand
Amongst the sons of grace,
When Christ, the Judge, at his right hand
Appoints his saints a place.
His eye beholds the path they tread,
His heart approves it well
But crooked ways of sinners lead
Down to the gates of hell.

Classic Hymn

On By BrianIn Hymns

More love to Thee, O Christ, more love to Thee!
Hear Thou the prayer I make on bended knee.
This is my earnest plea: More love, O Christ, to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

Once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest;
Now Thee alone I seek, give what is best.
This all my prayer shall be: More love, O Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

Let sorrow do its work, come grief or pain;
Sweet are Thy messengers, sweet their refrain,
When they can sing with me: More love, O Christ, to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

Then shall my latest breath whisper Thy praise;
This be the parting cry my heart shall raise;
This still its prayer shall be: More love, O Christ to Thee;
More love to Thee, more love to Thee!

– Elizabeth Payson Prentiss

Same author as the Classic Quote earlier this week.  May this hymn and the quote be reflected in our hearts and prayers!

Forgotten Verses

On By BrianIn Holidays, Hymns1 Comment

Here are the forgotten verses of one more Christmas carol:

O come, Thou Rod of Jesse, free
Thine own from Satan’s tyranny;
From depths of hell Thy people save,
And give them victory over the grave.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Key of David, come,
And open wide our heavenly home;
Make safe the way that leads on high,
And close the path to misery.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, O come, great Lord of might,
Who to Thy tribes on Sinai’s height
In ancient times once gave the law
In cloud and majesty and awe.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

O come, Thou Root of Jesse’s tree,
An ensign of Thy people be;
Before Thee rulers silent fall;
All peoples on Thy mercy call.
Rejoice! Rejoice!
Emmanuel shall come to thee, O Israel.

“O Come, O Come, Emmanuel”
Author Unknown
Written around the 12th Century
As found in the Cyber Hymnal

Forgotten Verses

On By BrianIn Holidays, Hymns

Here are some forgotten verses from another Christmas carol:

Still through the cloven skies they come
With peaceful wings unfurled,
And still their heavenly music floats
O’er all the weary world;
Above its sad and lowly plains,
They bend on hovering wing,
And ever over its Babel sounds
The blessèd angels sing.

Yet with the woes of sin and strife
The world has suffered long;
Beneath the angel strain have rolled
Two thousand years of wrong;
And man, at war with man, hears not
The love-song which they bring;
O hush the noise, ye men of strife
And hear the angels sing.

“It Came Upon The Midnight Clear”
Edmund H. Sears
Written in 1849
As found in the Cyber Hymnal

Forgotten Verses

On By BrianIn Holidays, Hymns

Here are some more more forgotten verses from another familiar Christmas carol:

True God of true God, Light from Light Eternal,
Lo, He shuns not the Virgin’s womb;
Son of the Father, begotten, not created;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

See how the shepherds, summoned to His cradle,
Leaving their flocks, draw nigh to gaze;
We too will thither bend our joyful footsteps;
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Lo! star led chieftains, Magi, Christ adoring,
Offer Him incense, gold, and myrrh;
We to the Christ Child bring our hearts’ oblations.
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

Child, for us sinners poor and in the manger,
We would embrace Thee, with love and awe;
Who would not love Thee, loving us so dearly?
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
O come, let us adore Him,
Christ the Lord.

“O Come All Ye Faithful”
John F. Wade
Written around 1743
As found in the Cyber Hymnal

Forgotten Verses

On By BrianIn Holidays, Hymns

Yesterday I started a week-long feature sharing forgotten verses from some of our favorite Christmas carols.  Here is the second installment:

Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us Thy humble home;
Rise, the woman’s conqu’ring Seed,
Bruise in us the serpent’s head.
Now display Thy saving power,
Ruined nature now restore;
Now in mystic union join
Thine to ours, and ours to Thine.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

Adam’s likeness, Lord, efface,
Stamp Thine image in its place:
Second Adam from above,
Reinstate us in Thy love.
Let us Thee, though lost, regain,
Thee, the Life, the inner man:
O, to all Thyself impart,
Formed in each believing heart.
Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the newborn King!”

“Hark the Herald Angels Sing”
Charles Wesley
Written in 1739
As found in the Cyber Hymnal