Isaac Watts Quotes

Lord, I ascribe it to thy grace,
And not to chance as others do,
That I was born of Christian race,
And not a Heathen, or a Jew.

I would not change my native land
For rich Peru with all her gold.
A nobler prize lies in my hand
Than East or Western Indies hold.

Whene'er I take my walks abroad,
How many poor I see!
What shall I render to my God For all his gifts to me?

There's not a place where we can flee,
But God is present there.

Were I so tall to reach the pole,
Or grasp the ocean with my span,
I must be measured by my soul;
The mind's the standard of the man.

If you have resolutely fixed your opinion, though it be upon too slight and insufficient grounds, yet you will stand determined to renounce the strongest reason brought for the contrary opinion, and grow obstinate against the force of the clearest argument.

Let dogs delight to bark and bite,
⁠For God hath made them so;
Let bears and lions growl and fight,
⁠For 'tis their nature too.

But, children, you should never let
⁠Such angry passions rise;
Your little hands were never made
⁠To tear each other's eyes.

Yet, gracious God amidst these storms of nature,
Thine eyes behold a sweet and sacred calm
Reign through the realms of conscience: all within
Lies peaceful and composed. ‘Tis wondrous grace
Keeps off thy terrors from this humble bosom,
Though stained with sins and follies, yet serene
In penitential peace and cheerful hope;
Sprinkled and guarded with atoning blood.
Thy vital smiles amidst this devastation,
Like heavenly sunbeams hid behind the clouds,
Break out in happy moments with bright radiance,
Cleaving the gloom; the fair celestial light
Softens and gilds the horrors of the storm,
And richest cordials to the heart conveys.
O glorious solace of immense distress,
A conscience and a God! A friend at home
And a better Friend on high! This is my Rock
Of firm support, my Shield of sure defence
Against infernal arrows. Rise, my soul,
Put on thy courage: Here’s the living spring
Of joys divinely sweet and ever new,
‘A peaceful conscience and a smiling heaven.’
Weak as my zeal is, yet my zeal is true;
It bears the trying furnace. Love divine
Constrains me; I am thine. Incarnate love
Has seized and holds me in almighty arms:
Here’s my salvation, my eternal hope.
Amidst the wreck of worlds and dying nature,
‘I am the Lord’s, and he forever mine.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.
Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.
Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.
Thy Word commands our flesh to dust,
“Return, ye sons of men”:
All nations rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.
A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.
The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by the flood,
And lost in foll’wing years.
Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the op’ning day.
Like flow’ry fields the nations stand
Pleased with the morning light;
The flow’rs beneath the mower’s hand
Lie with’ring ere ’tis night.
O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.

The great God, in a way of bounty, may often bestow upon us vastly beyond what our little services can ever pretend to have deserved, but He never punishes beyond our deserts.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Our shelter from the stormy blast,
And our eternal home.

Under the shadow of Thy throne
Thy saints have dwelt secure;
Sufficient is Thine arm alone,
And our defense is sure.

Before the hills in order stood,
Or earth received her frame,
From everlasting Thou art God,
To endless years the same.

Thy Word commands our flesh to dust,
“Return, ye sons of men”:
All nations rose from earth at first,
And turn to earth again.

A thousand ages in Thy sight
Are like an evening gone;
Short as the watch that ends the night
Before the rising sun.

The busy tribes of flesh and blood,
With all their lives and cares,
Are carried downwards by the flood,
And lost in foll’wing years.

Time, like an ever-rolling stream,
Bears all its sons away;
They fly, forgotten, as a dream
Dies at the op’ning day.

Like flow’ry fields the nations stand
Pleased with the morning light;
The flow’rs beneath the mower’s hand
Lie with’ring ere ’tis night.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.

If we proportion our assent in all things to the degrees of evidence, we do the utmost that human nature is capable of, in a rational way, to secure itself from error.

O God, our help in ages past,
Our hope for years to come,
Be Thou our guard while troubles last,
And our eternal home.

...it is a matter of pleasing wonder that persons of all characters should have been united in one faith, and persuaded to trust in the same Saviour, and embrace the same salvation. For some of all sorts shall stand in that blessed assembly. Then it shall be a fruitful spring of wonder and glory that men of various nations and ages, of different tempers, capacities, and interests, of contrary educations, and contrary prejudices, should believe in one Gospel, and trust in the one Deliverer, from Hell and death. That the sprightly, the studious and the stupid, the wise and the foolish, should relish and rejoice in the same sublime truths...

I believe the promises of God enough to venture an eternity on them