The Heavens Declare Thy Glory, Lord
The Heavens Declare Thy Glory, Lord
The heavens declare Thy glory, Lord;
In every star Thy wisdom shines;
But when our eyes behold Thy Word,
We read Thy name in fairer lines.
The rolling sun, the changing light,
And nights and days, Thy power confess;
But the blest Volume Thou hast writ
Reveals Thy justice and Thy grace.
Sun, moon, and stars convey Thy praise
Round the whole earth, and never stand;
So when Thy truth began its race,
It touched and glanced on every land.
Nor shall Thy spreading gospel rest
Till through the world Thy truth has run;
Till Christ has all the nations blest
That see the light, or feel the sun.
ISAAC WATTS was tired of singing dull songs. In his time, churches sang only psalms, and the English translations were wooden and confusing. “Tho’ the Psalms of David are a Work of admirable and divine Composure,” he wrote, “tho’ they contain the noblest Sentiments of Piety, and breathe a most exalted Spirit of Devotion, yet when the best of Christians attempt to sing many of them in our common Translations, that Spirit of Devotion vanishes and is lost, the Psalm dies upon their Lips, and they feel scarce any thing of the holy Pleasure.”
Watts felt it was important to bring out the spiritual impact of each psalm and to bring in the New Testament fulfillment of ancient longings. Just as the heavens declared God’s glory in a fixed but ever-turning way, so Watts could present God’s truth clearly to a new generation.
The heavens proclaim the glory of God. The skies display his craftsmanship. . . . Yet their message has gone throughout the earth, and their words to all the world.
Psalm 19:1, 4-6
From the book
