Isaac Watts: Our God, Our Help

READ: PSALM 90; 98; GALATIANS 6:14

Isaac Watts (1674-1748) is considered the father of English hymn-writing. Today, many of his hymns are sung, known, and loved. But that wasn’t always the case. In fact, while he was alive, Isaac Watts was considered by some to be a disturber and perhaps even a heretic!

Isaac Watts became frustrated with the singing in his church. The church he attended used the Psalms as their worship songs, but Watts believed that the congregation wasn’t fully understanding and appreciating what they were singing. So, he was challenged by his father to give them something different to sing.

That’s exactly what he did. A lot of his hymns were written based on specific Scriptures, and he also adapted the psalms of David to be sung by congregations in his book The Psalms of David, Imitated. “Joy to the World” was based on Psalm 98. “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross” was based on Galatians 6:14. “Our God, Our Help in Ages Past” was based on Psalm 90.

Isaac Watts loved to dwell on the gospel and weave its truth into his songs. He once said, “Where [the psalmist] speaks of the pardon of sin through the mercies of God, I have added the merits of a Savior. Where he talks of sacrificing goats or bulls, I rather choose to mention the sacrifice of Christ, the Lamb of God…And I am fully satisfied that more honor is done to our blessed Savior by speaking his Name, his graces, and actions in his own language, according to the brighter discoveries he has now made, than by going back again to the Jewish forms of worship, and the language of types and figures.”

Many were outraged that Watts seemed to be rewriting Scripture, but he wanted people to not just speak words by rote memory, but to fully understand and be inspired by the words of God. He desired for others to be moved by the Spirit of God while worshipping and praising. He decided that the spiritual growth and encouragement of the congregants was more important than the opinions of the naysayers. And because of that decision, generations of Christians have gained a deeper understanding of God’s love through Isaac Watts’s music. • Stephanie Mathews

• Sometimes we need help grasping the language and imagery of Scripture, much like reading different Bible translations. When have you heard Scripture summarized or paraphrased in a way that struck you, whether in a song or somewhere else? What was that like?

Let the word of Christ dwell richly among you, in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another through psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. Colossians 3:16 (CSB)