Deity and Humanity of Christ

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Ere the blue heavens were stretched abroad

Author: Isaac Watts
Published in 98 hymnals

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Representative Text

1 Ere the blue heavens were stretched abroad,
From everlasting was the Word;
With God he was, the Word was God,
And must divinely be adored.

2 By his own power were all things made;
By him supported all things stand;
He is the whole creation's head,
And angels fly at his command.

3 But lo! he leaves those heavenly forms;
The Word descends and dwells in clay,
That he may converse hold with worms,
Dressed in such feeble flesh as they.

4 Mortals with joy beheld his face,
The eternal Father's only Son:
How full of truth, how full of grace,
The brightness of the Godhead shone!

5 The angels leave their high abode,
To learn new mysteries here, and tell
The love of our descending God,
The glories of Immanuel.

Source: The Voice of Praise: a collection of hymns for the use of the Methodist Church #146

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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 >

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First Line:	Ere the blue heavens were stretched abroad
Title:	Deity and Humanity of Christ
Author:	Isaac Watts
Meter:	8.8.8.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

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Notes

Ere the blue heavens were stretch'd abroad. I. Watts. [Divinity and Humanity of Christ.] First published in his Hymns & Sacred Songs, 1707, Bk. i. No. 2, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. In addition to its somewhat extensive use in its original form in Great Britain and America, it is also given in an altered form as, "Before the heavens were spread abroad," in Songs for the Sanctuary, N. Y., 1865-72, and others.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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