Sing to the Lord with joyful voice

Representative Text

Sing to the Lord with joyful voice!
Sing as the children of his care.
Let every land blend cheerful noise
with glorious singing everywhere!
We’ll near his gates with thankful songs,
high as the heavens the sound be raised
until the earth’s ten thousand tongues
fill heavenly courts with all our praise.

Come, to attend before his throne,
sacred our joy, and great our awe.
Know that the Lord is God alone;
his holy word is perfect law.
Wide as the world is his command;
vast as eternity his love.
Firm as a rock God’s truth shall stand,
when rolling years shall cease to move.



Source: In Melody and Songs: hymns from the Psalm versions of Isaac Watts #55

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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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Text Information

First Line: Sing to the Lord with joyful voice
Author: Isaac Watts
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain
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Notes

Sing to the Lord with joyful voice. I. Watts. [ Ps. c] First published in his Psalms of David, &c, 1719, p. 256, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines. In this form its use in modern collections is limited; that which has attained to the greatest popularity being—-"Before Jehovah's awful throne." This arrangement is by J. Wesley, and was first published in his Psalms & Hymns, at Charlestown, U.S.A., in 1736-7, p. 5, and repeated in J. & C. Wesley's Psalms & Hymns, 1741, p. 74: the Wesleyan Hymn Book in 1797, as the first of the "Additional Hymns," and the revised edition of 1875. Modern collections of the Church of England have received it through Madan's Psalms & Hymns1760, Toplady's Psalms & Hymns, 1776, and others of the last century. It consists of Watts, as follows, with alterations thus: st. i., Watts's st. ii. altered, by J..Wesley, to:—

”Before Jehovah's awful throne
Ye nations bow with sacred joy."

St. ii. Watts's st, iii. unaltered. St. iii. Watts's st. v. unaltered. St. iv. Watts's st. vi. altered, by an unknown hand, for the "Additional Hymns." added to the Wesleyan Hymn Book, after Wesley's death, in 1797, thus :—-"Firm as a rock Thy truth shall stand." In this last form this hymn is known in all English-speaking countries, and hns been translated into many languages. A Latin translation by R. Bingham, in his Hymnologia Christiana Latina, 1871, begins, "Ante! Jehovae tremendum."

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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Tune

JERUSALEM (Parry)


FREEDOM (Higgins)


OLD HUNDREDTH

This tune is likely the work of the composer named here, but has also been attributed to others as shown in the instances list below. According to the Handbook to the Baptist Hymnal (1992), Old 100th first appeared in the Genevan Psalter, and "the first half of the tune contains phrases which may ha…

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Media

The Cyber Hymnal #6083
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Instances

Instances (1 - 3 of 3)

Hymns and Psalms #61

Hymns and Psalms #61
TextPage Scan

In Melody and Songs #55

In Melody and Songs #55
TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #6083

The Cyber Hymnal #6083
Include 14 pre-1979 instances
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