Justice and Equity

Author: Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts was the son of a schoolmaster, and was born in Southampton, July 17, 1674. He is said to have shown remarkable precocity in childhood, beginning the study of Latin, in his fourth year, and writing respectable verses at the age of seven. At the age of sixteen, he went to London to study in the Academy of the Rev. Thomas Rowe, an Independent minister. In 1698, he became assistant minister of the Independent Church, Berry St., London. In 1702, he became pastor. In 1712, he accepted an invitation to visit Sir Thomas Abney, at his residence of Abney Park, and at Sir Thomas' pressing request, made it his home for the remainder of his life. It was a residence most favourable for his health, and for the prosecution of his literary… Go to person page >

Blessed Redeemer, how divine. I. Watts. [Divine Equity.] A hymn on his sermon on St. Matt. vii. 12. It was published in an edition after 1723, of his Sermons on Various Subjects, &c, 1721-3, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed "The Universal law of Equity." In the older collections it is frequently found, especially the American, but in modern hymn-books it is seldom given, and then in an altered and abridged form.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)