Can creatures to perfection find? J. Watts. [God unsearchable.] Published in hisHymns, &c, 2nd ed., 1709, Bk. ii., No. 170, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled, "God Incomprehensible and Sovereign." It is found in a few modern collections, as Spurgeon’s Our Own Hymn Book, but usually in an abbreviated form. In the Church Pastorals, Boston, U. S. A., 1864, stanzas iv., v., vii., viii., are given as, "God is a King, of power unknown," and in the American Hymn for the Church of Christ by Hedge & Huntington, 1853, No. 123, stanzas v., vi., viii. begin, “God wounds the heart, and He makes whole."
--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)
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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