A Hymn by Isaac Watts (1674—1748)
1-Join all the glorious names
Of wisdom, love, and pow’r,
That mortals ever knew,
That angels ever bore;
All are too mean to speak His worth,
Too mean to set my Saviour forth.
2- But O what gentle terms,
What condescending ways,
Doth our Redeemer use
To teach his heav’nly grace!
Mine eyes with joy and wonder see
What forms of love He bears for me.
3- Arrayed in mortal flesh,
He like an angel stands,
And holds the promises
And pardons in His hands;
Commissioned from His Father’s throne
To make His grace to mortals known.
4- Great Prophet of my God,
My tongue would bless Thy name;
By Thee the joyful news
Of our salvation came;
The joyful news of sins forgiv’n,
Of hell subdued, and peace with heav’n
5- Be Thou my Counsellor,
My Pattern, and my Guide,
And through this desert land
Still keep me near thy side:
Nor let my feet e’er run astray
Nor rove nor seek the crooked way.
6- I love my Shepherd’s voice:
His watchful eye shall keep
My wand’ring soul among
The thousands of His sheep:
He feeds His flock, He calls their names,
His bosom bears the tender lambs.
7-To this dear Surety’s hand
Will I commit my cause;
He answers and fulfils
His Father’s broken laws:
Behold my soul at freedom set!
My Surety paid the dreadful debt.
8- Jesus, my great High Priest,
Offered His blood, and died;
My guilty conscience seeks
No sacrifice beside:
His pow’rful blood did me redeem,
’Tis worthy of my heart’s esteem.
9- My Advocate appears
For my defence on high;
The Father bows his ears,
And lays his thunder by:
Not all that hell or sin can say
Shall turn his heart, his love away.
10- My dear almighty Lord
My Conqu’ror and my King,
Thy sceptre and Thy sword,
Thy reigning grace I sing:
Thine is the pow’r; behold I sit
In willing bonds beneath Thy feet.
11-Now let my soul arise,
And tread the tempter down;
My Captain leads me forth
To conquest and a crown:
A feeble saint shall win the day,
Though death and hell obstruct the way.
12- Should all the hosts of death,
And powers of hell unknown,
Put their most dreadful forms
Of rage and mischief on,
I shall be safe, for Christ displays
Superior power, and guardian grace.
This hymn, published in 1709 by Isaac Watts, written in 12 stanzas, is one of the great hymns of all time. It is a hymn that extols the glorious truth of the gospel, and the object of our faith — the Lord Jesus Christ. In this hymn Mr. Watts, with poetic expertise and Christian reverence and joy, mentions our Lord with 19 different titles, which include His flesh and blood birth name Jesus; and, His prophetic office of being the Christ. Hence the meaning of the first line “Join all the glorious names”. In this poem, our poet joins some of the glorious names used for the Lord Jesus Christ.
His poem begins with these 3 titles; Wisdom, Love and Power. He then acknowledges Him as my Saviour, then our Redeemer, and, then refers to Christ as my Surety, and Great Prophet of my God. He is our Counsellor; my Pattern, says our poet, and my Guide. Our poet says he, loves his Shepherd’s voice, who is Jesus, my great high Priest, my Advocate; and, my dear almighty Lord; My Conqueror , my King, my Captain. And, finally, in the last 2 lines His title of Messiah is given: it reads thus, “I shall be safe, for Christ displays Superior power, and guardian grace.”
It is reported that Mr. Watts wrote many hymns on this very theme, and that in his own words, he of necessity proclaimed, “Earth is too narrow to express His worth, His glory, or His grace.”
It is true that we do not have words, or thoughts, or souls, of adequate proportion to praise the glory or grace of our Lord to its full worth. But, praise be to God the Father that he has condescended unto our low estate and blessed us with the imputed righteousness of our Lord; so that, though we are not able to praise without the taint of sin, our God through the blood of our Saviour accepts our praise as being sinless and pure; entirely due to what our Lord has done for us on the cross. Not only that we might share our Lord’s presence with the Father in the throne room of grace; but, that He might make righteous, our praise and thanksgiving towards Him; of which, our Father desires to hear from us, His children; of whom, He adopted by the blood of our Lord, and, by our union with Him through the Holy Spirit.
God desires our worship; and, knows that we, as little children, are imperfect in all our ways; and yet joys in the fact that we can come “boldly unto the throne of grace, that we may obtain mercy, and find grace to help in time of need.”, with the confidence and assurance of His forgiveness towards us, through our High Priest.
We are truly thankful to the poet for sharing the grace and talent of which God has bestowed upon him. And, we are grateful to have such wonderful stanzas of which we can praise our Saviour with.
Scripture Alone 