All ye that love the Lord, rejoice

All ye that love the Lord, rejoice

Author: Isaac Watts
Published in 57 hymnals

Printable scores: PDF, MusicXML
Audio files: MIDI

Representative Text

All ye that love the Lord, rejoice,
And let your songs be new;
Amidst the church with cheerful voice
His later wonders show.

The Jews, the people of his grace,
Shall their Redeemer sing;
And Gentile nations join the praise,
While Zion owns her King.

The Lord takes pleasure in the just,
Whom sinners treat with scorn;
The meek that lie despised in dust
Salvation shall adorn.

Saints should be joyful in their King,
E'en on a dying bed;
And like the souls in glory sing;
For God shall raise the dead.

Then his high praise shall fill their tongues
Their hands shall wield the sword;
And vengeance shall attend their songs,
The vengeance of the Lord.

When Christ the judgment-seat ascends,
And bids the world appear,
Thrones are prepared for all his friends
Who humbly loved him here.

Then shall they rule with iron rod
Nations that dared rebel;
And join the sentence of their God
On tyrants doomed to hell.

The royal sinners bound in chains
New triumphs shall afford:
Such honor for the saints remains;
Praise ye, and love the Lord!



Source: The Psalms and Hymns of Dr. Watts #407

Author: Isaac Watts

Isaac Watts was the son of a schoolmaster, and was born in Southampton, July 17, 1674. He is said to have shown remarkable precocity in childhood, beginning the study of Latin, in his fourth year, and writing respectable verses at the age of seven. At the age of sixteen, he went to London to study in the Academy of the Rev. Thomas Rowe, an Independent minister. In 1698, he became assistant minister of the Independent Church, Berry St., London. In 1702, he became pastor. In 1712, he accepted an invitation to visit Sir Thomas Abney, at his residence of Abney Park, and at Sir Thomas' pressing request, made it his home for the remainder of his life. It was a residence most favourable for his health, and for the prosecution of his literary… Go to person page >

Text Information

First Line: All ye that love the Lord, rejoice
Author: Isaac Watts
Meter: 8.6.8.6
Language: English
Copyright: Public Domain

Notes

All ye that [who] love the Lord, rejoice. I. Watts. [Ps. cxlix.] First pub. in his Psalms of David, &c, 1719, in 8 stanzas of 4 lines, and entitled, "Praise God, all His saints; or, The Saints judging the World." To it he appended a note in explanation of his rendering of verses 6-9, "Let the high praises of God be in their mouth," &c.

“This Psalm seems to be written to encourage the Jews in the wars against the Heathen Princes of Canaan, who were divinely sentenced to Destruction: But the four last Verses of it have been too much abused in later Ages to promote Sedition and Disturbance in the State; so that I chose to refer this Honour, that is here given to all the Saints, to the day of Judgment, according to those Expressions in the New Testament, Mat. xix. 28, Ye shall sit on twelve Thrones, judging the Tribes, &c.; i. Cor. vi. 3, We shall judge Angels; Rev. ii. 27 and iii., 21, I will give him Power over the Nations, he shall rule them with a Rod of Iron" &c.

Notwithstanding this defence, the unsuitability of these stanzas for congregational use is emphasised by their omission in most collections in Great Britain and America.

-- John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

Tune

ST. AGNES (Dykes)

John B. Dykes (PHH 147) composed ST. AGNES for [Jesus the Very Thought of Thee]. Dykes named the tune after a young Roman Christian woman who was martyred in A.D. 304 during the reign of Diocletian. St. Agnes was sentenced to death for refusing to marry a nobleman to whom she said, "I am already eng…

Go to tune page >


ST. STEPHEN (Jones)


Timeline

Media

The Cyber Hymnal #349
  • Adobe Acrobat image (PDF)
  • Noteworthy Composer score (NWC)
  • XML score (XML)

Instances

Instances (1 - 1 of 1)
TextScoreAudio

The Cyber Hymnal #349

Include 56 pre-1979 instances
Suggestions or corrections? Contact us