Singing the Psalms with Isaac Watts

Encore Post: When Martin Luther wrote his hymns, one of his aims was to make singing accessible to everyday people. He wrote hymns that not only praised God but taught the faith. Many of his hymns paraphrased Scripture, especially Old Testament passages and pieces from the liturgy. Often he brought Jesus into Old Testament texts. Lutherans followed his lead, beginning a rich tradition of music and the arts that continue today. John Calvin and his followers took a different tack. Nothing was to be sung in worship, they believed, that was not a Psalm or a close translation.

Nearly two hundred year later, the young son of a Calvinist minister, Isaac Watts, could not stand how dull and unfeeling the singing of the Psalms were in their worship. When he complained to his father, the elder Watts said, “if you don’t like it, try to do better.” And he did. His hymns became very popular. His work inspired many other hymn writers so that he became known as the father of English hymnody.

Four Hundred and one years ago, Isaac Watts, then a leading Calvinist minister, set out to replace the Psalm singing that distressed him so with Psalm paraphrases, following similar principles as Luther used. He published a hymn book of paraphrases of nearly every Psalm he thought he could baptize. This book is titled: Psalms of David Imitated. These include some of the most beloved English hymns. You know some of them: nine of them are in Lutheran Service Book. They are:

705 – The man is ever blessed (Psalm 1)
832 – Jesus shall reign where’er the sun (Psalm 72:8–19)
867 – Let children hear the mighty deeds (stanzas 1–3, 5) (Psalm 78:1–8)
733 – O[ur] God, our help in ages past (Psalm 90:1–5)
387 – Joy to the world, the Lord is come (Psalm 98:4–9)
814 – O bless the Lord, my soul (Psalm 103:1–7)
816 – From all that dwell below the skies (stanzas 1–2) (Psalm 117)
903 – This is the day the Lord has made (Psalm 118:24–26)
707 – Oh, that the Lord would guide my ways (Psalm 119, selected verses)