Scripture Verse

I will remember the works of the Lord: surely I will remember Thy wonders of old. Psalm 77:11

Introduction

portrait
Isaac Watts (1674–1748)

Words: Is­aac Watts, The Psalms of Da­vid, 1719. Com­fort de­rived from an­cient pro­vi­denc­es; or, Is­ra­el de­liv­ered from Egypt and brought to Ca­naan.

Music: Ali­da D. B. Thomp­son, in Joy­ful Wing, ed­ited by John R. Swe­ney & Will­iam J. Kirk­pat­rick (Phi­la­del­phia, Penn­syl­van­ia: John J. Hood, 1889), page 173 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Lyrics

How awful is Thy chastening rod!
May Thy own children say:
The great, the wise, the dreadful God!
How holy is His way!
I’ll meditate His works of old,
The King that reigns above;
I’ll hear His ancient wonders told,
And learn to trust His love.

Long did the house of Joseph lie
With Egypt’s yoke oppressed;
Long He delayed to hear their cry,
Nor gave His people rest.
The sons of good old Jacob seemed
Abandoned to their foes;
But His al­migh­ty arm redeemed
The nation that He chose.

Israel, His people and His sheep,
Must follow where He calls;
He bade them venture through the deep,
And made the waves their walls.
The waters saw Thee, mighty God!
The waters saw Thee come;
Backward they fled, and frighted stood,
To make Thine armies room.

Strange was Thy journey through the sea
Thy footsteps, Lord, unknown;
Terrors attend the wondrous way
That brings Thy mercies down.
Thy voice, with terror in the sound,
Through clouds and darkness broke;
All Heav’n in lightning shone around,
And earth with thunder shook.

Thine arrows through the skies were hurled;
How glo­ri­ous is the Lord!
Surprise and trembling seized the world,
And His own saints adored.
He gave them water from the rock,
And safe, by Moses’ hand,
Through a dry desert led His flock
Home to the promised land.