I love the volume of Thy Word

Representative Text

1 I love the volume of Thy Word:
What light and joy these leaves afford
To souls benighted and distrest!
Thy precepts guide my doubtful way;
Thy fear forbids my feet to stray;
Thy promise leads my heart to rest.

2 From the discoveries of Thy Law
The perfect rules of life I draw;
These are my study and delight:
Not honey so invites the taste,
Nor gold that hath the furnace passed
Appears so pleasing to the sight.

3 Thy threatenings wake my slumbering eyes,
And warn me where my danger lies;
But 'tis Thy blessed Gospel, Lord,
That makes my guilty conscience clean,
Converts my soul, subdues my sin,
And gives a free, but large reward.

4 Who knows the errors of his thoughts?
My God, forgive my secret faults,
And from presumptuous sins restrain
Accept my poor attempts of praise,
That I have read Thy Book of grace
And book of nature not in vain.

Source: Church Book: for the use of Evangelical Lutheran congregations #308

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 >

Text Information

First Line: I love the volume of Thy Word
Author: Isaac Watts
Meter: 8.8.8.8.8.8
Language: English
Publication Date: 1719
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

This hymn is an excerpt from the longer hymn, "Great God, the heav'ns' well-ordered frame," a paraphrase of Psalm 19 from Psalms of David Imitated (1719).

Timeline

Instances

Instances (1 - 3 of 3)

The Baptist Hymnal #222

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The Cyber Hymnal #2916

The New Harp of Columbia, Restored Edition #41b

Include 171 pre-1979 instances
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