Home ⇒ 📌Isaac Watts ⇒ Hymn 53
Hymn 53
The Holy Scriptures.
Heb. 1:1,2; 2 Tim. 3:15,16; Psa. 147:19,20.
God, who in various methods told
His mind and will to saints of old,
Sent down his Son, with truth and grace,
To teach us in these latter days.
Our nation reads the written word,
That book of life, that sure record:
The bright inheritance of heav’n
Is by the sweet conveyance giv’n.
God’s kindest thoughts are here expressed,
Able to make us wise and bless’d;
The doctrines are divinely true,
Fit for reproof and comfort too.
Ye British isles, who read his love
In long epistles from above,
(He hath not sent his sacred word
To every land,) praise ye the Lord.
(2 votes, average: 4.50 out of 5)
Related poetry:
- Hymn 135 The love of Christ shed abroad in the heart. Eph. 3:16ff. Come, dearest Lord, descend and dwell By faith and love in every breast; Then shall we know, and taste, and feel The joys that cannot be expressed. Come, fill our hearts with inward strength, Make our enlarged souls possess, And learn the height, and […]...
- Hymn 82 God far above creatures. Job 4:17-21. 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? Behold, he puts his trust in none Of all the spirits round his throne: Their natures, when compared with his, Are neither holy, […]...
- Hymn 165 Unfruitfulness, ignorance, and unsanctified affections. Long have I sat beneath the sound Of thy salvation, Lord; But still how weak my faith is found, And knowledge of thy word! Oft I frequent thy holy place, And hear almost in vain; How small a portion of thy grace My memory can retain! [My dear Almighty, and […]...
- Hymn 86 God holy, just, and sovereign. Job 9:2-10. How should the sons of Adam’s race Be pure before their God? If he contend in righteousness, We fall beneath his rod. To vindicate my words and thoughts I’ll make no more pretence; Not one of all my thousand faults Can bear a just defence. Strong is his […]...
- Hymn 169 The Divine Perfections. The Lord Jehovah reigns, His throne is built on high; The garments he assumes Are light and majesty: His glories shine With beams so bright, No mortal eye Can bear the sight. The thunders of his hand Keep the wide world in awe; His wrath and justice stand To guard his holy […]...
- Hymn 92 Christ the wisdom of God. Prov. 8:1,22-32. Shall Wisdom cry aloud, And not her speech be heard? The voice of God’s eternal Word, Deserves it no regard? “I was his chief delight, His everlasting Son, Before the first of all his works, Creation, was begun. [“Before the flying clouds, Before the solid land, Before the […]...
- Hymn 105 Heaven invisible and holy. 1 Cor. 2:9,10; Rev. 21:27. Nor eye hath seen, nor ear hath heard, Nor sense nor reason known, What joys the Father hath prepared For those that love the Son. But the good Spirit of the Lord Reveals a heav’n to come; The beams of glory in his word Allure and […]...
- Hymn 151 Prophecy and inspiration. ‘Twas by an order from the Lord The ancient prophets spoke his word; His Spirit did their tongues inspire, And warmed their hearts with heav’nly fire. The works and wonders which they wrought Confirmed the messages they brought; The prophet’s pen succeeds his breath, To save the holy words from death. Great […]...
- Hymn 166 The Divine Perfections. How shall I praise th’ eternal God, That infinite Unknown? Who can ascend his high abode, Or venture near his throne? [The great Invisible! he dwells Concealed in dazzling light; But his all-searching eye reveals The secrets of the night. Those watchful eyes that never sleep Survey the world around His wisdom […]...
- Psalm 119 part 4 Instruction from scripture. Ver. 9 How shall the young secure their hearts, And guard their lives from sin? Thy word the choicest rules imparts To keep the conscience clean. Ver. 130 When once it enters to the mind, It spreads such light abroad, The meanest souls instruction find, And raise their thoughts to God. Ver. […]...
- Hymn 108 Christ unseen and beloved. 1 Pet. 1:5. Now with our mortal eyes Have we beheld the Lord; Yet we rejoice to hear his name, And love him in his word. On earth we want the sight Of our Redeemer’s face; Yet, Lord, our inmost thoughts delight To dwell upon thy grace. And when we taste […]...
- Hymn 136 Sincerity and hypocrisy; or, formality in worship. John 4:24; Ps. 139:23,24. God is a Spirit, just and wise, He sees our inmost mind; In vain to heav’n we raise our cries, And leave our souls behind. Nothing but truth before his throne With honor can appear; The painted hypocrites are known Through the disguise they […]...
- Hymn 126 Charity and uncharitableness. Rom. 14:17,19; 1 Cor. 10:32. Not diff’rent food, or diff’rent dress, Compose the kingdom of our Lord; But peace, and joy, and righteousness, Faith, and obedience to his word. When weaker Christians we despise, We do the gospel mighty wrong; For God, the gracious and the wise, Receives the feeble with the […]...
- Hymn 87 God dwells with the humble and penitent. Isa. 47:15,16. 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. “But I descend to worlds below, On earth I have a mansion too; The humble spirit and contrite Is an […]...
- Hymn 132 Holiness and grace. Titus 2:10-13. O let our lips and lives express The holy gospel we profess; So let our works and virtues shine, To prove the doctrine all divine. Thus shall we best proclaim abroad The honors of our Savior God; When the salvation reigns within, And grace subdues the power of sin. Our […]...
- Take Back the Virgin Page Written on Returning a Blank Book Take back the virgin page, White and unwritten still; Some hand, more calm and sage, The leaf must fill. Thoughts come, as pure as light Pure as even you require; But, oh! each word I write Love turns to fire. Yet let me keep the book: Oft shall my […]...
- Hymn 167 The Divine Perfections. Great God! thy glories shall employ My holy fear, my humble joy; My lips in songs of honor bring Their tribute to th’ eternal King. [Earth, and the stars, and worlds unknown, Depend precarious on his throne; All nature hangs upon his word, And grace and glory own their Lord.] [His sovereign […]...
- Hymn 163 Complaint of desertion and temptations. Dear Lord! behold our sore distress; Our sins attempt to reign; Stretch out thine arm of conquering grace, And let thy foes be slain. [The lion with his dreadful roar Affrights thy feeble sheep: Reveal the glory of thy power, And chain him to the deep. Must we indulge a […]...
- Hymn 84 Salvation, righteousness, and strength in Christ. Isa. 45:21-25. Jehovah speaks! let Isr’el hear; Let all the earth rejoice and fear, While God’s eternal Son proclaims His sovereign honors and his names. “I am the last, and I the first, The Savior God, and God the just; There’s none beside pretends to show Such justice and […]...
- Hymn 31 part 2 The Christian’s hidden life. Col. 3:3. O happy soul that lives on high While men lie grov’lling here His hopes are fixed above the sky, And faith forbids his fear. His conscience knows no secret stings, While peace and joy combine To form a life whose holy springs Are hidden and divine. He waits in […]...
- Hymn 60 The Virgin Mary’s song. Luke 1:46ff. Our souls shall magnify the Lord, In God the Savior we rejoice: While we repeat the Virgin’s song, May the same Spirit tune our voice! [The Highest saw her low estate, And mighty things his hand hath done: His overshadowing power and grace Makes her the mother of his […]...
- Hymn 33 Absurdity of infidelity. 1 Cor. 1:26-31. Shall atheists dare insult the cross Of our Redeemer, God? Shall infidels reproach his laws, Or trample on his blood? What if he choose mysterious ways To cleanse us from our faults? May not the works of sovereign grace Transcend our feeble thoughts? What if his gospel bids us […]...
- Hymn 89 Youth and judgment. Eccl. 11:9. Ye sons of Adam, vain and young, Indulge your eyes, indulge your tongue, Taste the delights your souls desire, And give a loose to all your fire; Pursue the pleasures you design, And cheer your hearts with songs and wine; Enjoy the day of mirth, but know There is a […]...
- Behavior BEHAVIOR-fresh, native, copious, each one for himself or herself, Nature and the Soul expressed-America and freedom expressed-In it the finest art, In it pride, cleanliness, sympathy, to have their chance, In it physique, intellect, faith-in it just as much as to manage an army or a city, or to write a book-perhaps more, The youth, […]...
- Hymn 2 The deity and humanity of Christ. John 1:1,3,14; Col. 1:16. Ere the blue heav’ns were stretched abroad, From everlasting was the Word: With God he was; the Word was God, And must divinely be adored. By his own power were all things made; By him supported all things stand; He is the whole creation’s head, […]...
- If It Is True What the Prophets Write If it is true, what the Prophets write, That the heathen gods are all stocks and stones, Shall we, for the sake of being polite, Feed them with the juice of our marrow-bones? And if Bezaleel and Aholiab drew What the finger of God pointed to their view, Shall we suffer the Roman and Grecian […]...
- Psalm 119 part 5 Delight in Scripture; or, The word of God dwelling in us. Ver. 97 O how I love thy holy law! ‘Tis daily my delight; And thence my meditations draw Divine advice by night. Ver. 148 My waking eyes prevent the day To meditate thy word; My soul with longing melts away To hear thy gospel, […]...
- Psalm 119 part 6 Holiness and comfort from the word. Ver. 128 Lord, I esteem thy judgments right, And all thy statutes just; Thence I maintain a constant fight With every flatt’ring lust. Ver. 97,9 Thy precepts often I survey; I keep thy law in sight, Through all the business of the day, To form my actions right. Ver. […]...
- Success I think if you had loved me when I wanted; If I’d looked up one day, and seen your eyes, And found my wild sick blasphemous prayer granted, And your brown face, that’s full of pity and wise, Flushed suddenly; the white godhead in new fear Intolerably so struggling, and so shamed; Most holy and […]...
- Hymn 101 Joy in heaven for a repenting sinner. Luke 15:7,10. Who can describe the joys that rise Through all the courts of Paradise, To see a prodigal return, To see an heir of glory born? With joy the Father doth approve The fruit of his eternal love; The Son with joy looks down and sees The […]...
- Hymn 114 Abraham’s blessing on the Gentiles. Rom. 11:16,17. Gentiles by nature, we belong To the wild olive wood; Grace took us from the barren tree, And grafts us in the good. With the same blessings grace endows The Gentile and the Jew; If pure and holy be the root, Such are the branches too. Then let […]...
- Hymn to Proserpine (After the Proclamation of the Christian Vicisti, Galilæe I have lived long enough, having seen one thing, that love hath an end; Goddess and maiden and queen, be near me now and befriend. Thou art more than the day or the morrow, the seasons that laugh or that weep; For these give joy and sorrow; but thou, Proserpina, sleep. Sweet is […]...
- Hymn 47 Death of kindred improved. Zech. 1:5. Must friends and kindred droop and die, And helpers be withdrawn? While sorrow with a weeping eye Counts up our comforts gone? Be thou our comfort, mighty God! Our helper and our friend; Nor leave us in this dangerous road, Till all our trials end. O may our feet […]...
- Hymn 96 Election excludes boasting. 1 Cor. 1:26-31. But few among the carnal wise, But few of noble race, Obtain the favor of thine eyes, Almighty King of Grace. He takes the men of meanest name For sons and heirs of God; And thus he pours abundant shame On honorable blood. He calls the fool, and makes […]...
- Hymn 168 The Divine Perfections. Jehovah reigns, his throne is high, His robes are light and majesty; His glory shines with beams so bright, No mortal can sustain the sight. His terrors keep the world in awe; His justice guards his holy law; His love reveals a smiling face; His truth and promise seal the grace. Through […]...
- Hymn 35 part 2 Truth, sincerity, etc. Phil. 4:8. Let those who bear the Christian name Their holy vows fulfil; The saints, the followers of the Lamb, Are men of honor still. True to the solemn oaths they take, Though to their hurt they swear; Constant and just to all they speak, For God and angels hear. Still with […]...
- Hymn 12 Free grace in revealing Christ. Luke 10:21. Jesus, the man of constant grief, A mourner all his days; His spirit once rejoiced aloud, And tuned his joy to praise: “Father, I thank thy wondrous love, That hath revealed thy Son To men unlearned, and to babes Has made thy gospel known. “The mysteries of redeeming […]...
- Hymn 51 Persevering grace. Jude 1:24,25. To God the only wise, Our Savior and our King, Let all the saints below the skies Their humble praises bring. ‘Tis his almighty love, His counsel, and’ his care, Preserves us safe from sin and death, And every hurtful snare. He will present our souls, Unblemished and complete, Before the […]...
- Hymn 162 Meditation of heaven; or, The joy of faith. My thoughts surmount these lower skies, And look within the veil; There springs of endless pleasure rise, The waters never fail. There I behold, with sweet delight, The blessed Three in One; And strong affections fix my sight On God’s incarnate Son. His promise stands for ever […]...
- Hymn 13 The Son of God incarnate. Isa. 9:2,6,7. The lands that long in darkness lay Now have beheld a heav’nly light; Nations that sat in death’s cold shade Are blessed with beams divinely bright. The virgin’s promised Son is born, Behold th’ expected child appear: What shall his names or titles be? “The Wonderful, the Counsellor.” […]...