A Psalm for the Lord's Day

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Sweet is the work, my God, my King

Author: Isaac Watts (1719)
Published in 775 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI, Recording

Piano/Organ
	A Still, Small Voice (Reflective Hymn Se…

Instrumental
	Three Hymn Arrangements for Brass & Orga…

Handbells
	Ride On!

Representative Text

1. Sweet is the work, my God, my King,
To praise your name, give thanks, and sing,
To show your love by morning light,
And talk of all your truth at night.

2. My heart shall triumph in the Lord,
And bless his works, and bless his Word;
Your works of grace, they brightly shine!
How deep your counsels! how divine!

3. Lord, 'tis a pleasant thing to stand
In gardens planted by your hand;
Let me within your courts be seen,
Like a young cedar, fresh and green.

4. There grow your saints in faith and love,
Blest with your influence from above;
Not Lebanon with all its trees
Yields such a lovely sight as these.

5. The plants of grace shall ever live
(Nature decays, but grace must thrive).
Time, which does all things else impair,
Still makes them flourish, strong and fair.

6. None who attend his gates shall find
A God unfaithful or unkind.
Laden with fruits of age, they show
The Lord is holy, just, and true.

Source: Hymns and Devotions for Daily Worship #204

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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:	Sweet is the work, my God, my King
Title:	A Psalm for the Lord's Day
Author:	Isaac Watts (1719)
Meter:	8.8.8.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

English

10 shown out of 456

Welsh

Small Church Music #4714

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Notes

Sweet is the work, my God, my [and] King. I. Watts. [Ps. xcii. or Sunday.] First published in his Psalms of David, &c, 1719, p. 237, in 7 stanzas of 4 lines, and headed, "A Psalm for the Lord's Day." In G. Whitefield's Hymns for Social Worship, &c, 1753, No. 20, stanzas i., ii., iii., vii. were given as "Sweet is the work, O God, our King." This was repeated in M. Madan's Psalms & Hymns., 1760, No. 105. A. M. Toplady gave the same stanzas in his Psalms & Hymns, 1776, as No. 34, but with other changes in some stanzas, and the opening line as “Sweet is the work, my God and King." This reading is found in some modern collections in the Church of England. Other arrangements of the text are given in hymnbooks in Great Britain and America. It is a good and popular hymn.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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Tune

CANONBURY

Derived from the fourth piano piece in Robert A. Schumann's Nachtstücke, Opus 23 (1839), CANONBURY first appeared as a hymn tune in J. Ireland Tucker's Hymnal with Tunes, Old and New (1872). The tune, whose title refers to a street and square in Islington, London, England, is often matched to Haver…

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