Scripture Verse

I will take away the stony heart…and I will give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

Introduction

portrait
Isaac Watts (1674–1748)

Words: Is­aac Watts, Hymns and Spi­ri­tu­al Songs 1707–09, Book 2, num­ber 74. Re­pent­ance from a sense of di­vine good­ness; or, a com­plaint of in­gra­ti­tude.

Music: Gold­en Hill, from the Ken­tuc­ky Har­mo­ny, by Ana­ni­as Da­vis­son, 1816 (🔊 pdf nwc).

Lyrics

Is this the kind return,
And these the thanks we owe,
Thus to abuse eter­nal love,
Whence all our blessings flow?

To what a stubborn frame
Has sin reduced our mind!
What strange rebellious wretches we,
And God as strangely kind!

On us He bids the sun
Shed his reviving rays;
For us the skies their circles run,
To lengthen out our days.

The brutes obey their God,
And bow their necks to men;
But we, more base, more brutish things,
Reject His easy reign.

Turn, turn us, mighty God,
And mold our souls afresh;
Break, sovereign grace, these hearts of stone,
And give us hearts of flesh.

Let old ingratitude
Provoke our weeping eyes,
And hourly as new mercies fall
Let hourly thanks arise.