Watts cites a biblical precedent for teaching songs to
children for educational value: “The children of Israel were commanded to learn
the words of the song of Moses, and we are directed in the New Testament, not
only to sing ‘with grace in the heart, but to teach and admonish one another by
hymns and songs.’”
This powerful hymn is not just for children, but adults are drawn to it for the glory it brings God. The majestic music makes it a joy to sing.
Not a lot is known about Watts’ early years. He was born in 1674, in England. As a teenager he complained to his father about how boring the songs of the day were. His father challenged him to write something better. Hence, a hymn writer was born. He would write at least 750 songs over the course of life.
Watts, whose father was a Nonconformist, (a member of a
Protestant church in England that dissents from the established Anglican
Church), studied at the Dissenting Academy at Stoke Newington. He became tutor
to the family of Sir John Hartopp of Stoke Newington and of Freeby,
Leicestershire, and preached his first sermons in the family chapel at Freeby.
He was appointed assistant to the minister of Mark Lane Independent Chapel, in
London, and became full pastor in 1702. He was an inspiring preacher.
As Isaac Watts quietly pastored Mark Lane Chapel, the
growing popularity of his hymns was causing a tempest. “Christian congregations
have shut out divinely inspired Psalms," one man complained, “and taken in
Watts' flights of fancy.” The issue of singing hymns versus Psalms split
churches, including the one in Bedford, England, once pastored by John Bunyan.
In May, 1789, Rev. Adam Rankin told the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church, meeting in Philadelphia: “I have ridden horseback all the way from my home in Kentucky to ask this body to refuse the great and harmful error of adopting the use of Isaac Watts’ hymns in public worship in preference to the Psalms of David.”
Watt’s reactions are not known. Dr. Samuel Johnson later reports that “by his natural temper he was quick of resentment; but, by his established and habitual practice, he was gentle, modest, and inoffensive.”
A wealthy couple in the church, Sir Thomas and Lady Abney, invited him to spend a week on their estate. Isaac accepted—and lived with them until his death 36 years later. He enjoyed the children in the home, and in 1715, he published Divine and Moral Songs for Children. It sold 80,000 copies in a year and has been selling ever since. In his preface, he said, “Children of high and low degree, of the Church of England or Dissenters, baptized in infancy or not, may all join together in these songs. And as I have endeavored to sink the language to the level of a child’s understanding . . . to profit all, if possible, and offend none.”
Isaac Watts died November 25, 1748. Other favorites that Watts wrote that we all enjoy singing are “Joy to the World,” “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” and “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross.”
"In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth . . . And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light . . . And God said, ‘Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear’ . . . God made two great lights—the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars.”
Biblehub.com, Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary: In the fourth day's work, the creation of the sun, moon, and stars is accounted for. All these are the works of God. The stars are spoken of as they appear to our eyes, without telling their number, nature, place, size, or motions; for the Scriptures were written, not to gratify curiosity, or make us astronomers, but to lead us to God, and make us saints. The lights of heaven are made to serve Him; they do it faithfully, and shine in their season without fail.
Genesis 1:20, 21, 24, 29, 31
“And God said, ‘Let the water teem with living creatures,
and let birds fly above the earth across the vault of the sky . . . And God saw
that it was good . . . Let the land produce living creatures according to their
kinds: the livestock, the creatures that move along the ground, and the wild
animals, each according to its kind’ And it was so . . . Then God said, ‘I
give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree
that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food . . .God saw all
that He had made, and it was very good.”
Biblehub.com, Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary: The earth was emptiness, but by a word spoken, it became full of God's riches, and His they are still. Though the use of them is allowed to man, they are from God, and to His service and honor they must be used. The earth, at His command, brings forth grass, herbs, and fruits. God must have the glory of all the benefit we receive from the produce of the earth. If we have, through grace, an interest in Him who is the Fountain, we may rejoice in Him when the streams of temporal mercies are dried up.
Secretplaceministries.org: Jesus is anointed to make the presence of God real to you . . . We all live in His presence all the time . . . While God is omnipresent, and His presence is always with us, we long to experience Him in some way . . . By placing ourselves before Him in a place of adoration, we make room for Him, and through focusing our attention on Him, increase our awareness of being in the Presence of God in our lives . . . God has promised that as we draw near to Him, He will draw near to us and we will experience His presence in ever increasing measures . . . Abiding in the Word of God will always bring an increase in the sense of His manifest presence.
The Bible has many verses that speak about God’s mighty power. Psalm 147:5 says: “Great is our Lord and mighty in power.” Colossians 2:12 says: “And with Him you were raised to new life because you trusted the mighty power of God, who raised Christ from the dead.” These verses emphasize that God’s power is limitless and that it can be trusted to bring about new life, hope, joy and peace.
