Singing His Songs
Joy to the world! the Lord is come;
Let earth receive her King.
Let ev’ry heart prepare Him room,
And heav’n and nature sing.
Isaac Watts, “Joy to the World”
He wasn’t much to look at: five feet tall, rail thin, and pale, with a head that looked too large for his body; but oh, what was in that head. Isaac Watts was a multitalented man, a prodigy in several fields, but he will always be remembered as the man who helped introduce hymns to the English church.
Music is an integral part of the contemporary church. Regardless of denomination or church size, music is one of the first acts of worship and as much a part of the service as the sermon. This has not always been the case.
In Isaac Watts’ day, singing in church was uncommon. Old Testament psalms might be sung, but there was nothing “contemporary” about the music. Lutherans in Germany had been singing in church for decades, largely due to Martin Luther’s love of music (he wrote many hymns). English churches, however, frowned on the practice.
Watts was the first of nine children in his family, born on July 17, 1674, in Southampton, England, to a father who spent a stretch or two in jail for not conforming to the Church of England. His mother told him tales of sitting on the jailhouse steps caring for her children.
Watts was a child who learned quickly. He could truthfully be called a prodigy. He began learning Latin around the age of four, Greek at nine, French at eleven, and Hebrew at thirteen. He also had a gift for rhyme.
As a teenager he, like his father, shunned the Church of England, which meant he could not attend Oxford or Cambridge, even though there were friends and neighbors willing to pay his way. Instead, he went to a Nonconformist academy in London. He spent the first years after his graduation as a tutor.
In 1702 he became pastor of Mark Lane Independent Chapel in London. He had not been in the pulpit long before he developed an illness that plagued him the rest of his life. The nature of the illness is unknown, although he refers to “Gaundise” (jaundice) and “Cholic” (colic). The disorder lasted for years and took a toll on body, mind, and emotions. Each year he had to pass more responsibility to his assistant pastor, until Watts finally resigned. Sir Thomas Abney, mayor of London, took him into his home and there he stayed for thirty-six years, remaining with the family even after Sir Thomas’ death in 1721.
Something New for Churches
Watts was disenchanted with the singing of Psalms in church. The singing lacked enthusiasm and Christian content—it was biblical content to be sure, but not Christian. The Psalms were a beautiful representation of worship and praise, but were restricted to Old Testament revelation. Worshipers couldn’t sing about the cross, the resurrection, the ascension, the Trinity, or the nativity. Watts wanted to give worshipers an avenue to do that, but English churches had adopted the restraint of Calvin. Anything new was suspect.
Isaac Watts compiled Hymns and Spiritual Songs, which he published in 1707. In its pages are familiar hymns such as “Joy to the World,” “O God, Our Help in Ages Past,” “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” and many more. He also wrote Psalms of David Imitated in the Language of the New Testament (1719), in which he transformed David’s poetry as if the great king had written in Watts’s time. He had a love for children and published the first hymnal for young people, Divine Songs for Children (1715).
Some referred to his hymns as, “Watts’ whims.” While his songs made inroads with the independent churches in England, it wasn’t until 1861—over a century later—that his work made it into a Church of England hymnbook.
Although he met resistance in England, his work was well-received in America. Benjamin Franklin published Watts’ paraphrases of David’s psalms. Revolutionary Americans loved the hymns. Fellow Englishman John Wesley used the word “genius” to describe Watts.
How many hymns did Watts write? The exact number is still debated, but with confidence we can say that he wrote anywhere from six hundred to eight hundred hymns over the course of his lifetime, a truly amazing accomplishment.
More Than Hymns
There was more to Watts than spiritual songs. He also penned thirty theological treatises; essays on philosophy, psychology, and astronomy; a textbook on logic; and three volumes of sermons.
Watts may not have been a physically imposing or dashing man, but his creativity, perseverance, and dedication to church music lives long after him. Modern hymnals still carry his hymns and many worshipers could not imagine church without the occasional hymn from Isaac Watts.