STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

The man is ever blessed Psalm 1

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 1, printed in 1719 in The Psalms of David Imitated, where he set the psalms "in the language of the New Testament".

WRITTEN BY

Isaac Watts 1674–1748

PRINTED

1719 The Psalms of David Imitated · no. 1

METRE

Short Metre 6.6.8.6 · 6 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 1 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 6 stanzas as Watts printed them, with the verses their lines echo beside them. Point at a line to join it to its verse; click to read the passage.

SHARED WORDSthe verse shares the line's wording ECHOproposed by an AI model, confirmed by a separate check Not the author's own notes

AMONG THE SCRIPTURES

The stanzas at the centre; around them, every book its heading and its echoes come from, Old Testament on the left and New on the right. Choose a stanza or a book.

a line echoes this verse its heading or an echo comes from here

STANZA I

The man is ever blessed

Who shuns the sinners' ways,

Among their counsels never stands,

Nor takes the scorner's place;

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 1, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked, or set foot on the path of sinners, or sit in the seat of mockers. 2But his delight is in the Law of the LORD, and on His law he meditates day and night. 3He is like a tree planted by streams of water, yielding its fruit in season, whose leaf does not wither, and who prospers in all he does. 4Not so the wicked! For they are like chaff driven off by the wind. … 2 more verses PSALM 1 · ITS FIRST VERSES · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 1

The man is ever blessed Who shuns the sinners' ways, Among their counsels never stands, Nor takes the scorner's place; STANZA I

Its place in the book

Watts's psalms run from Psalm 1 to Psalm 150, several settings to many psalms: 367 hymns. This is number 1. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 1 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN The man is ever blessed

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