There is a God who reigns above

Representative Text

There is a God that reigns above,
Lord of the heavens, and earth, and seas:
I fear his wrath, I ask his love,
And with my lips I sing his praise.

There is a law which he has writ,
To teach us all what we must do:
My soul, to his commands submit,
For they are holy, just, and true.

46
There is a Gospel of rich grace,
Whence sinners all their comforts draw:
Lord, I repent, and seek thy face,
For I have often broke thy law.

There is an hour when I must die,
Nor do I know how soon ‘twill come:
A thousand children, young as I,
Are call’d by death to hear their doom.

Let me improve the hours I have,
Before the day of grace is fled:
There’s no repentance in the grave,
No pardon offer’d to the dead.

Just as a tree cut down, that fell
To north or southward, there it lies,
So man departs to heaven or hell,
Fix’d in the state wherein he dies.



Source: Divine and Moral Songs: attempted in easy language for the use of children with some additional composures #HX

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: There is a God who reigns above
Author: Isaac Watts (1715)
Meter: 8.8.8.8
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Tune

DUKE STREET

First published anonymously in Henry Boyd's Select Collection of Psalm and Hymn Tunes (1793), DUKE STREET was credited to John Hatton (b. Warrington, England, c. 1710; d, St. Helen's, Lancaster, England, 1793) in William Dixon's Euphonia (1805). Virtually nothing is known about Hatton, its composer,…

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The Cyber Hymnal #14591
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The Cyber Hymnal #14591

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