“Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:1-2 KJV).
He had a nose with a crook, about two sizes larger than the rest of his face. Though he had a beautiful, artistic soul, Isaac Watts’ personage wasn’t much to look at. One observer noted that “his head seemed too large for his five-foot-tall body; his small, piercing eyes and hooked nose didn’t enhance his appearance any either.”
He never married, though as the result of reading his poetry, one woman did fall in love with him. A romantic courtship by correspondence followed, but when she met him, her love quickly dissipated to a friendship that excluded matrimony.
At the age of four he learned Latin from his father. Eventually, he read Greek, Hebrew and French. He was brilliant, approaching the level of genius, but because he refused allegiance to the Church of England, he was denied entrance to the University of Cambridge and Oxford. He attended an academy sponsored by independent Christians. Nonetheless, he left his mark on the world, as have few men. He wrote more than 600 hymns, including some that are still sung today. He authored scores of publications, including 52 books on subjects as diverse as logic, grammar, pedagogy, ethics, astronomy, geography and yes, theology.
As a little boy, Isaac was one of nine children, and he had a gift for verse and often spoke in rhymes. So annoyed was his father that on one occasion, the young Isaac was told to stop this, or else he would be punished. Sure enough, when he continued, his father began to spank him and Isaac cried out, “O father, do some pity take and I will no more verses make.”
At the age of seven he wrote his first hymn. Though he felt resentment and rejection, Isaac was a person of deep compassion, sensitivity and feeling. Those emotions found body and soul in the hymns that came from his pen. Yet the focus of his energy was never, “Look at me! See how I hurt.” “Sure, I must fight if I would reign,” he wrote, “Increase my courage, Lord; I’ll bear the toil, endure the pain, supported by thy word.”
A study of some of the hymns which came from his pen shows that most of what he wrote embodied the great themes of Scripture: The faithfulness of God, His majesty, His wisdom, the strength of God’s Word—themes that have been rather sadly neglected in our day.
His hymn “O God, Our Help in Ages Past” was based on Psalm 90, on the words of Moses, who wrote, “Lord, thou hast been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever thou hadst formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, thou art God” (Psalm 90:1-2).
His beautiful hymn often sung at Christmas, “Joy to the World,” is patterned after Psalm 98, where the psalmist wrote, “Make a joyful noise unto the Lord, all the earth …” (Psalm 98:4 KJV). Watts believed that the Psalms should be interpreted in the full light of the New Testament. “… Where the Psalmist describes religion by the fear of God,” he wrote, “I have often joined faith and love to it.”
It would well be worth your time to take a hymn book and look up some of the hymns of old Isaac Watts. Reflected in his soul, you will see the image of God. At his death on November 25, 1748, a monument was erected to Watts among the great and mighty in Westminster Abbey; however, his greatest tribute is the fact that after more than 250 years, we still sing his hymns and songs of praise. Isaac Watts: a man for all generations.
Resource reading: Psalm 90.
