The Works of the Rev. Isaac Watts D.D. in Nine Volumes

1 FATHER, 1 bless thy gentle hand;
How kind was thy chastising rod,
That foro'd my conscience to a stand,
And brought my wand'ring soul to God.
2 Foolish and vain I went astray
Ere I had felt thy scourges, Lord,
I left my guide, and lost my way;
But now I love and keep thy word.
Ver. 71.

3 'Tis good for me to wear the yoke,
For pride is apt to rise and swell;
'Tis good to bear my Father's stroke,
That I might learn his statutes well.

Ver. 72.

4 The law that issues from thy mouth Shall raise my chearful passions more Than all the treasures of the south, Or western hills of golden ore.

Ver. 73.
5 Thy hands have made my mortal frame
Thy Spirit form'd my soul within ;
Teach me to know thy wondrous name,
And guard me safe from death and sin.
Ver. 74.

• Then all that love and fear the Lord,
At my salvation shall rejoice;
For I have hoped in thy word,
And made thy grace my only choice.

PSALM CXX.

Complaint of quarrelsome neighbours ; or, a devout wish of peace.

1 THOU God of love, thou ever blest,
Pity my suff'ring state:
When wilt thou set my soul at rest,
From lips that love deceit ?

2 Hard lot of mine! my days are cast
Among the sons of strife,
Whose never-ceasing brawlings waste
My golden hours of life.

3 O might I fly to change my place,
How would I choose to dwell
In some wild lonesome wilderness,
And leave these gates of hell!

4 Peace is the blessing that I seek;
How lovely are its charms!

I am for peace; but when I speak,
They all declare for arms.

5 New passions still their souls engage,
And keep their malice strong;
What shall be done to curb thy rage,
O thou devouring tongue!

Should burning arrows smite thee thro'
Strict justice would approve :
But I had rather spare my foe,
And melt his heart with love.

PSALM CXXI. [L. M.]

Divine protection.

1 UP to the hills I lift mine eyes,
Th' eternal hills beyond the skies;
Thence all her help my soul derives;
There my Almighty Refuge lives.
9 He lives, the everlasting God,
That built the world, that spread the
flood;

Th' heav'ns with all their hosts he made
And the dark regions of the dead.

3 He guides our feet,he guards our way;
His morning smiles bless all the day:
He spreads the ev'ning veil and keeps
The silent hours while Isr'el sleeps.

4 Isr❜el a name divinely blest,
May rise secure, securely rest;
The holy Guardian's wakeful eyes
Admit no slumber nor surprise.

6 No sun shall smite thy head by day
Nor the pale moon with sickly ray

Shall blast thy couch; no baleful star Dart his malignant fire so far.

6 Should earth and hell with malice burn,
Still thou shalt go, and still return,
Safe in the Lord! his heav'nly care
Defends thy life from ev'ry snare.

7 On thee foul spirits have no pow'r;
And in thy last departing hour,
Angels, that trace the airy road,
Shall bear thee homeward to thy God.

PSALM CXXI. [C. M.]

Preservation by day and night.

1 TO heav'n I lift my waiting eyes,
There all my hopes are laid;
The Lord, who built the earth and skies
Is my perpetual aid.

2 Their feet shall never slide or fall,
Whom he designs to keep ;

His ear attends the softest call;
His eyes can never sleep.

3 He will sustain our weakest pow'rs
With his almighty arm,

And watch our most unguarded hours Against surprising harm.

4 Isr'el rejoice, and rest secure, Thy keeper is the Lord;

His wakeful eyes employ his pow'r
For thine eternal guard.

Nor scorching sun, nor sickly moon,
Shall have his leave to smite;

He shields thy head from burning noon
From blasting damps at night.

6 He guards thy soul, he keeps thy breath
Where thickest dangers come:
Go and return, secure from death,
Till God commands thee home.

PSALM CXXI. As the 148th Psalm.
God our preserver.

1 UPWARD I lift mine eyes;
From God is all my aid;
The God that built the skies,
And earth and nature made:
God is the tow'r
To which I fly;
His grace is nigh
In ev'ry hour.

2 My feet shall never slide,
And fall in fatal snares,
Since God, my guard and guide,
Defends me from my fears:
Those wakeful eyes
That never sleep,
Shall Isr'el keep
When dangers rise.
3 No burning heats by day,
Nor blasts of ev'ning air,
Shall take my health away,
If God be with me there :

Thou art my sun,
And thou my shade,
To guard my head
By night or noon.

4 Hast thou not giv'n thy word
To save my soul from death:
And I can trust my Lord

To keep my mortal breath:
I'll go and come,
Nor fear to die,
Till from on high
Thou call me home.

PSALM CXXII. [C. M.]

Going to church.

1 HOW did my heart rejoice to hear
My friends devoutly say
"In Zion let us all appear

And keep the solemn day!"

2 I love her gates, I love the road;
The church adorn'd with grace,
Stands like a palace built for God,
To shew his milder face.

3 Up to her courts with joys unknown,
The holy tribes repair;

The Son of David holds his throne,
And sits in judgment there.

4 He hears our praises and complaints!
And while his awful voice
Divides the sinners from the saints,

We tremble and rejoice,

Peace be within this sacred place,
And joy a constant guest!
With holy gifts and heav'nly grace,
Be her attendants blest!'

6 My soul shall pray for Zion still,
While life or breath remains :
There my best friends,my kindr'd dwell
There God my Saviour reigns.

PSALM CXXII. Proper tune.

Going to church.

HOW pleas'd and blest was 1,
To hear the people cry,

"Come, let us seek our God to day!"
Yes, with a chearful zeal,
We haste to Zion's hill,

May peace attend thy gate, And joy within thee wait, To bless the soul of ev'ry guest The man that seeks thy peace, And wishes thine increase, A thousand blessings on him rest! 5 My tongue repeats her vows, "Peace to this sacred house!" For there my friends and kindred dwell;

And since my glorious God Makes thee his blest abode, My soul shall ever love thee well. [Repeat the fourth stanza to complete the tune]

PSALM CXXIII.

Pleading with submission.

10 THOU whose grace and justice reign,
Enthron'd above the skies,

To thee our hearts would tell their pain
To thee we lift our eyes.

2 As servants watch their master's hand,
And fear the angry stroke!

Or maids before their mistress stand,
And wait a peaceful look ;

3 So for our sins we justly feel
Thy discipline, Ŏ God;

Yet wait the gracious moment still,
Till thou remov'st thy rod.

4 Those that in wealth and pleasure live,
Our daily groans deride';
And thy delays of mercy give
Fresh courage to their pride.

5 Our foes insult us, but our hope

In thy compassion lies:

This thought shall bear our spirits up,
That God will not despise.

PSALM CXXIV.

A song for the Fifth of November. 1 HAD not the Lord, may Isr'el say,

Had not the Lord maintain'd our side,

When men to make our lives a prey, Rose like the swelling of the tide; 2 The swelling tide had stopt our breath, So, fiercely did the waters roll, We had been swallowed deep in death: Proud waters had o'erwhelm'd our soul.

And there our vows and honours pay. 3 We leap for joy, we shout and sing,

Zion, thrice happy place!

Adorn'd with wond'rous grace,

And walls of strength embrace thee

round;

In thee our tribes appear
To pray, and praise, and hear

The sacred gospel's joyful sound.

There David's greater Son

Has fix'd his royal throne,

He sits for grace and judgment there;
He bids the saint be glad,

He makes the sinner sad,
And humble souls rejoice with fear.

Who just escap'd the fatal stroke: So flies the bird with chearful wing, When once the fowler's snare is broke.

4 For ever blessed be the Lord,

Who broke the fowler's curs'd snare, Who sav'd us from the murd'ring sword And made our lives and souls his care! 5 Our help is in Jehovah's name,

Who form'd the earth and built the
skies;

He that upholds that wond'rous frame,
Guards his own church with watch-

ful eyes.

PSALM CXXV.

[C. M.] The saints' trial and safety. 1 UNSHAKEN as the sacred hill, And firm as mountains be, Firm as a rock the soul shall rest, That leans, O Lord, on thee.

2 Not walls nor hills could guard so well
Old Salem's happy ground,
As those eternal arms of love,
That ev'ry saint surround.

3 While tyrants are a smarting scourge
To drive them near to God,
Divine compassion does allay
The fury of the rod.

4 Deal gently, Lord, with souls sincere,
And lead them safely on
To the bright gates of paradise,

Where Christ their Lord is gone.
But if we trace those crooked ways
That the old serpent drew,

The wrath that drove him first to hell,
Shall smite his followers too.

PSALM CXXV. [S. M.]

The saints' trial and safety: or, moderated afflictions.

1 FIRM and unmov'd are they

That rest their souls op God;

While we with pleasure shout thy praise,
With cheerful notes thy love proclaim.

3 When we review our dismal fears,

'Twas hard to think they'd vanish so; With God we left our flowing tears, He makes our joys like rivers flow. 4 The man that in his furrow'd field

His scatter'd seed with sadness leaves,
Will shout to see the harvest yield
A welcome load of joyful sheaves.

PSALM CXXVI. [C. M.]

The joy of a remarkable conversion ;
or, melancholy removed.

1 WHEN God reveal'd his gracious name
And chang'd my mournful state,
My rapture seem'd a pleasing dream,
The grace appear'd so great.

2 The world beheld the glorious change,
And did thy hand confess;

My tongue broke out in unknown strains;

And sung surprising grace.

"Great is the work" (my neighbours cry'd,

And own'd the pow'r divine)

"Great is the work, (my heart reply'd) "And be the glory thine."

Firm as the mount where David dwelt, 4 The Lord can clear the darkest skies,

Or where the ark abode.

As mountains stood to guard The city's sacred ground, So God, and his almighty love, Embrace his saints around.

3 What tho' the Father's rod

Drop a chastising stroke,

Can give us day for night;
Make drops of sacred sorrow rise
To rivers of delight.

5 Let those that sow in sadness, wait
Till the fair harvest come, [great,
They shall confess their sheaves are
And shout the blessings home.

Yet, lest it wound their souls too deep, 6 Tho' seed lie bury'd long in dust,

Its fury shall be broke.

4 Deal gently, Lord, with those

Whose faith and pious fear, Whose hope, and love, and ev'ry grace, Proclaim their hearts sincere.

Nor shall the tyrant's rage,
Too long oppress the saint;
The God of Isr'el will support
His children, lest they faint.
But if our slavish fear

Will chuse the road to hell,
We must expect our portion there
Where bolder sinners dwell.

PSALM CXXVI. [L. M.]
Surprising deliverance.

1 WHEN God restor❜d our captive state,
Joy was our song and grace our
theme;

The grace beyond our hopes so great,
That joy appear'd a painted dream.
The scoffer owns thy hand and pays
Unwilling honours to thy name:
Vol. IX.

It shan't deceive their hope!
The precious grain can ne'er be lost,
For grace ensures the crop.

PSALM CXXVII. [L. M.]
The blessings of God on the business and
comforts of life.

1 IF God succeed not, all the cost
And pains to build the house are lost:
It God the city will not keep,
The watchful guards as well may sleep.
2 What if you rise before the sun,
And work and toil when day is done,
Careful and sparing eat your bread,
To shun that poverty you dread :

3 'Tis all in vain, till God hath blest;
He can make rich, yet give us rest:
Children and friends are blessings too,
If God our sov'reign make them so.
4 Happy the man to whom he sends

Obedient children, faithful friends!
How sweet our daily comforts prove,
When they are season'd with his loves

PSALM CXXVII. [C. M.]
God all in all.

1 IF God to build the house deny,
The builders work in vain;
And towns without his wakeful eye,
An useless watch maintain.

2 Before the morning beams arise,
Your painful work renew,
And, till the stars ascend the skies,
Your tiresome toil pursue.

3 Short be your sleep, and coarse your fare!

In vain till God has bless'd;
But if his smiles attend your care,

You shall have food and rest.

4 Nor children, relatives, nor friends,
Shall real blessings prove,
Nor all the earthly joys he sends,
If sent without his love.

PSALM CXXVIII.

Family blessings.

10 HAPPY man, whose soul is fill'd
With zeal, and rev'rend awe,
His lips to God their honours yield,
His life adorns the law.

2 A careful providence shall stand,
And ever guard thy head,
Shall on the labours of thy hand,
Its kindly blessings shed.

3 Thy wife shall be a fruitful vine;

Thy children round thy board,
Each like a plant of honour shine,
And learn to fear the Lord.

4 The Lord shall thy best hopes fulfil
For months and years to come;
The Lord who dwells on Zion's hill,
Shall send thee blessings home.
This is the man whose happy eyes
Shall see his house increase,
Shall see the sinking church arise,
Then leave the world in peace.

PSALM CXXIX.
Persecutors punished.

1 UP from my youth, may Isr'el say.
Have I been nurs'd in tears:
My griefs were constant as the day
And tedious as the years.

2 Up from my youth I bore the rage
Of all the sons of strife;
Oft they assail'd my riper age,
But not destroy'd my life.

3 Their cruel plough had torn my flesh
With furrows long and deep,
Hourly they vex my wounds afresh,
Nor let my sorrows sleep.

4 The Lord grew angry on his throne, And, with impartial eye,

Measur'd the mischiefs they had done,
Then let his arrows By.

5 How was their insolence surpris'
To hear his thunders roll!
And all the foes of Zion seiz'd
With horror to the soul.

6 Thus shall the men that hate the saints, Be blasted from the sky;

Their glory fades, their courage faints,
And all their projects die.

7 [What tho' they flourish tall and fair,
They have no root beneath :
Their growth shall perish in despair,
And be despis'd in death.]

8 [So corn that on the house-top stands No hope of harvest gives;

The reaper ne'er shall fill his hands,
Nor binder fold the sheaves.

9 It springs and withers on the place:
No traveller bestows

A word of blessing on the grass,
Nor minds it as it goes.]

PSALM CXXX. [C. M.]

Pardoning grace.

1 OUT of the deeps of long distress, The borders of despair,

I sent my cries to seek thy grace,
My groans to move thine ear.

2 Great God, should thy severer eye,
And thine impartial hand,
Mark and revenge iniquity,
No mortal flesh could stand.

God

3 But there are pardons with my
For crimes of high degree;
Thy Son has bought them with his blood,
To draw us near to thee.

4 [I wait for thy salvation, Lord,
With strong desires I wait;
My soul, invited by thy word,
Stands watching at thy gate.]

5 [Just as the guards that keep the night
Long for the morning skies,
Watch the first beams of breaking light,
And meet them with their eyes;
6 So waits my soul to see thy grace,
And more intent than they,
Meets the first op'nings of thy face,
And finds a brighter day.].

7 [Then in the Lord let Israel trust,
Let Israel seek his face;
The Lord is good as well as just,
And plenteous in his grace.

8 There's full redemption at his throne For sinners long enslav'd;

The great Redeemer is his Son,
And Israel shall be sav'd.]

PSALM CXXX. [L. M.]
Pardoning grace.

1 FROM deep distress and troubled

thoughts,

To thee, my God, I rais'd my cries;

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The Works of the Rev. Isaac Watts D.D. in Nine Volumes, Volume 9