STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

In vain we lavish out our lives The promises of the covenant of grace, Isa. 55. 1 2. Zech. 13. 1. Mich. 7. 19. Ezek. 36. 25 &c

Isaac Watts printed it in 1707 in Hymns and Spiritual Songs, Book I, no. 9, under Isaiah 55:1–2.

WRITTEN BY

Isaac Watts 1674–1748

PRINTED

1707 Hymns and Spiritual Songs · no. 9

METRE

Common Metre 8.6.8.6 · 10 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Isaiah 55:1–2 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 10 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

In vain we lavish out our lives

To gather empty wind,

The choicest blessings earth can yield

Will starve a hungry mind.

No line of this stanza quotes a verse closely; it is the hymn's own confession.

Where Watts found it

Watts printed the hymn under Isaiah 55:1–2. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1“Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you without money, come, buy, and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost! 2Why spend money on that which is not bread, and your labor on that which does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of foods. ISAIAH 55:1–2 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ ISAIAH 55

In vain we lavish out our lives To gather empty wind, The choicest blessings earth can yield Will starve a hungry mind. STANZA I

Its place in the book

Book I of the hymn book, “Collected from the Holy Scriptures”, holds these hymns in this order: 179 hymns. This is number 9. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 9 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN In vain we lavish out our lives

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