The Sovereignty of God - A Hymn by Isaac Watts
The Sovereignty of God - A Hymn by Isaac Watts
Isaac Watts (1674-1748), born on July 17, 1674 in Southampton, England, is often called the father of English hymnody. The eldest of nine children, his father was an educated deacon in a dissenting Congregational church. At the time of Isaac's birth, his father was in prison for his non-conformist beliefs.
Show More
Watts showed an unusual aptitude and literary genius as a boy. From 5 until 13 years old, he learned Latin, Greek, French, and Hebrew, and began to write quality verses. He had the habit of rhyming ordinary conversations that sometimes annoyed people around him. As a student of theology and philosophy, he wrote volumes which had powerful influence on English thinking during the late 17th and early 18th centuries.
One of his early concerns was the deplorable state in which congregational singing had degenerated in most English-speaking churches. Watts was seen as a radical churchgoer who was critical of the slow singing. One Sunday, after returning from a service, young Isaac was challenged by his father, "why don't you give us something better to sing?" Watts, then aged 18, accepted his father's challenge. The next Sunday he produced his first hymn, with enthusiastic response from the congregation. He wrote new hymn texts every Sunday for the next two years. In a book Hymns and Spiritual Songs, he published over 200 hymns. Watts wrote some more than 600 hymns. Some favorite hymns he wrote, aside from this hymn, include "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross," "I Sing the Mighty Power of God" and the famous Christmas song "Joy to the World."
The Sovereignty of God
Isaac Watts, 1674-1748
Keep silence all created things,
And wait your Maker's nod;
My soul stands trembling while she sings,
The glories of her God.
Life, death, and Hell, and worlds unknown,
Hang on His firm decree;
He sits on no precarious throne,
Nor asks assent to be.
Chained to His throne, a volume lies,
With all the fates of men,
With every angel's
