Watts: the divine perfections

Friday, November 26, 2021
    Commemoration of Isaac Watts, Hymnwriter, 1748
Meditation:
Sing the glory of his name;
    make his praise glorious!
    —Psalm 66:2 (NIV)
Quotation:
The Divine Perfections.

How shall I praise th’ eternal God,
    That Infinite Unknown?
Who can ascend his high abode,
    Or venture near his throne?

The great invisible! He dwells
    Conceal’d in dazzling light:
But his all-searching eye reveals
    The secrets of the night.

Those watchful eyes that never sleep,
    Survey the world around;
His wisdom is the boundless deep,
    Where all our thoughts are drown’d.

He knows no shadow of a change,
    Nor alters his decrees;
Firm as a rock his truth remains,
    To guard his promises.

Justice, upon a dreadful throne,
    Maintains the rights of God;
While mercy sends her pardons down,
    Bought with a Saviour’s blood.

Now to my soul immort al King,
    Speak some forgiving word;
Then ’twill be double joy to sing
    The glories of my Lord.
    ... Isaac Watts (1674-1748), Hymns and Spiritual Songs [1707], in Psalms, Hymns, and Spiritual Songs, ed. Samuel Melanchthon Worcester, Boston: Crocker & Brewster, 1834, book II, hymn 166, p. 470 (see the book)
    See also Ps. 66:2; 1 Sam. 15:29; Ps. 1:6; 121:1-4; Rom. 11:33; Jas. 2:12-13; 1 John 1:5
Quiet time reflection:
    With the congregation, Lord, I say Amen!

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