Firm was my health, my day was bright

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Firm was my health, my day was bright

Author: Isaac Watts
Published in 72 hymnals

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Representative Text

1 Firm was my health, my day was bright,
And I presum'd 'twould ne'er be night;
Fondly I said within my heart,
Pleasure and peace shall ne'er depart.

2 But I forgot thine arm was strong,
Which made my mountain stand so long:
And when thy face was turn'd aside,
My health was gone, my comforts died.

3 Hear me, O God of grace! I said,
And raise me from among the dead:
Thy word rebuk'd the pains I felt;
Thy pard'ning love remov'd my guilt.

4 I will extol thee, Lord, on high:
At thy command diseases fly:
Who but a God can speak and save
From the dark borders of the grave?

5 Thine anger but a moment stays;
Thy love is life and length of days:
Though grief and tears the night employ,
The morning-star restores the joy.

Source: A Collection of Hymns and Prayers, for Public and Private Worship #433

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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 >

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First Line:	Firm was my health, my day was bright
Author:	Isaac Watts
Meter:	8.8.8.8
Language:	English
Copyright:	Public Domain

Psalm 30
(hymns)

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Notes

Firm was my health, my day was bright. I. Watts. [Psalms xxx.] Appeared in his Psalms of David, 1719, in 6 stanzas of 4 lines, as a paraphrase of a portion of the 30th Psalm. In the Anglican Hymn Book, 1868, it is altered to "My health was firm, my day was bright." Its use in either form is not extensive.

--John Julian, Dictionary of Hymnology (1907)

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