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.

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.

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.