Isaac Watts Poems
A collection of select Isaac Watts famous poems that were written by Isaac Watts or written about the poet by other famous poets. PoetrySoup is a comprehensive educational resource of the greatest poems and poets on history.
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Why should I join with those in Play,
In whom I've no delight,
Who curse and swear, but never pray,
Who call ill Names, and fight.
I hate to hear a wanton Song,
Their Words offend my Ears:
I should not dare defile my Tongue
With Language such as theirs.
Away from Fools I'll turn my Eyes,
Nor with the Scoffers go;
I would be walking with the...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
How doth the little busy Bee
Improve each shining Hour,
And gather Honey all the day
From every opening Flower!
How skilfully she builds her Cell!
How neat she spreads the Wax!
And labours hard to store it well
With the sweet Food she makes.
In Works of Labour or of Skill
I would be busy too:
For Satan finds some Mischief still
For idle Hands to do.
In Books,...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
O 'tis a lovely thing for youth
To early walk in wisdom's way;
To fear a lie, to speak the truth,
That we may trust to all they say!
But liars we can never trust,
Even when they say what is true.
And he who does one fault at first
And lies to hide it, makes it two.
Have we not known, nor heard, nor read
How God...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
What blest examples do I find
Writ in the Word of Truth
Of children that began to mind
Religion in their youth!
Jesus, who reigns above the sky,
And keeps the world in awe,
Was once a child as young as I,
And kept His Father's law.
At twelve years old he talked with men,
The Jews all wondering stand;
Yet He obeyed his Mother then,
And came at her...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
Abraham's blessing on the Gentiles.
Rom. 11:16,17.
Gentiles by nature, we belong
To the wild olive wood;
Grace took us from the barren tree,
And grafts us in the good.
With the same blessings grace endows
The Gentile and the Jew;
If pure and holy be the root,
Such are the branches too.
Then let the children of the saints
Be dedicate to God,
Pour out thy Spirit on them,...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
The first and second Adam.
Rom. 5:12,etc.
Deep in the dust before thy throne
Our guilt and our disgrace we own;
Great God! we own th' unhappy name
Whence sprang our nature and our shame;
Adam the sinner: at his fall,
Death like a conqueror seized us
A thousand new-born babes are dead
By fatal union to their head.
But whilst our spirits, filled with awe,
Behold the terrors...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
Sincerity and hypocrisy; or, formality in worship.
John 4:24; Ps. 139:23,24.
God is a Spirit, just and wise,
He sees our inmost mind;
In vain to heav'n we raise our cries,
And leave our souls behind.
Nothing but truth before his throne
With honor can appear;
The painted hypocrites are known
Through the disguise they wear.
Their lifted eyes salute the skies,
Their bending knees the ground;
But God abhors...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
Saints in the hands of Christ
Jn. 10:28,29.
Firm as the earth thy gospel stands,
My Lord, my hope, my trust;
If I am found in Jesus' hands,
My soul can ne'er be lost.
His honor is engaged to save
The meanest of his sheep;
All that his heav'nly Father gave
His hands securely keep.
Nor death nor hell shall e'er remove
His favorites from his breast;
In the dear...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
The Divine Perfections.
Great God! thy glories shall employ
My holy fear, my humble joy;
My lips in songs of honor bring
Their tribute to th' eternal King.
[Earth, and the stars, and worlds unknown,
Depend precarious on his throne;
All nature hangs upon his word,
And grace and glory own their Lord.]
[His sovereign power what mortal knows?
If be command, who dares oppose?
With strength he girds himself...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
Absurdity of infidelity.
1 Cor. 1:26-31.
Shall atheists dare insult the cross
Of our Redeemer, God?
Shall infidels reproach his laws,
Or trample on his blood?
What if he choose mysterious ways
To cleanse us from our faults?
May not the works of sovereign grace
Transcend our feeble thoughts?
What if his gospel bids us fight
With flesh, and self, and sin,
The prize is most divinely bright
That we are...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
Christ dwells in heaven, but visits on earth.
SS 6:1-3,12.
When strangers stand and hear me tell
What beauties in my Savior dwell,
Where he is gone they fain would know,
That they may seek and love him too.
My best Beloved keeps his throne
On hills of light, in worlds unknown;
But he descends and shows his face
In the young gardens of his grace.
[In vineyards...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
Deliverance from storms and shipwreck; or, The seaman's song.
Would you behold the works of God,
His wonders in the world abroad,
Go with the mariners, and trace
The unknown regions of the seas.
They leave their native shores behind,
And seize the favor of the wind;
Till God command, and tempests rise
That heave the ocean to the skies.
Now to the heav'ns they mount amain,
Now sink...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
Praise to God from all nations.
O all ye nations, praise the Lord,
Each with a diff'rent tongue;
In every language learn his word,
And let his name be sung.
His mercy reigns through every land;
Proclaim his grace abroad;
For ever firm his truth shall stand
Praise ye the faithful God....Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
Secret devotion and spiritual-mindedness.
ver. 147,55
To thee, before the dawning light
My gracious God, I pray;
I meditate thy name by night,
And keep thy law by day.
ver. 81
My spirit faints to see thy grace,
Thy promise bears me up;
And while salvation long delays,
Thy word supports my hope.
ver. 164
Seven times a day I lift my hands,
And pay my thanks to thee;
Thy...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
Persecutors punished.
Up from my youth, may Isr'el say,
Have I been nursed in tears;
My griefs were constant as the day,
And tedious as the years.
Up from my youth I bore the rage
Of all the sons of strife;
Oft they assailed my riper age,
But not destroyed my life.
Their cruel plow had torn my flesh
With furrows long and deep;
Hourly they vexed my wounds afresh,
Nor...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
Pardoning grace.
Out of the deeps of long distress,
The borders of despair,
I sent my cries to seek thy grace,
My groans to move thine ear.
Great God, should thy severer eye,
And thine impartial hand,
Mark and revenge iniquity,
No mortal flesh could stand.
But there are pardons with my God
For crimes of high degree;
Thy Son has bought them with his blood,
To draw us near to...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
v.5,13-18
L. M.
At the settlement of a church, or the ordination of a minister.
Where shall we go to seek and find
An habitation for our God,
A dwelling for th' Eternal Mind,
Among the sons of flesh and blood?
The God of Jacob chose the hill
Of Zion for his ancient rest;
And Zion is his dwelling still,
His church is with his presence blessed.
Here will...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
Courage in death, and hope of the resurrection.
When God is nigh, my faith is strong;
His arm is my almighty prop:
Be glad, my heart; rejoice, my tongue;
My dying flesh shall rest in hope.
Though in the dust I lay my head,
Yet, gracious God, thou wilt not leave
My soul for ever with the dead,
Nor lose thy children in the grave.
My flesh shall...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
Forgiveness of sins upon confession.
O Blessed souls are they
Whose sins are covered o'er!
Divinely blest, to whom the Lord
Imputes their guilt no more.
They mourn their follies past,
And keep their hearts with care;
Their lips and lives, without deceit,
Shall prove their faith sincere.
While I concealed my guilt,
I felt the fest'ring wound;
Till I confessed my sins to thee,
And ready pardon found.
Let sinners learn...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac
Deliverance from oppression and falsehood.
O Thou whose justice reigns on high,
And makes th' oppressor cease,
Behold how envious sinners try
To vex and break my peace.
The sons of violence and lies
Join to devour me, Lord;
But as my hourly dangers rise,
My refuge is thy word.
In God most holy, just, and true,
I have reposed my trust;
Nor will I fear what flesh can do,
The...Read more of this...
by
Watts, Isaac