STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

It is the Lord our Saviour's hand Third Part Man's mortality and Christ's eternity; or, Saints die, but Christ and the church live

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 102:23–28, 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. 3

METRE

Long Metre 8.8.8.8 · 6 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 102:23–28 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

It is the Lord our Saviour's hand

Weakens our strength amidst the race;

Disease and death at his command

Arrest us, and cut short our days.

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 102:23–28, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

23He has broken my strength on the way; He has cut short my days. 24I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations. 25In the beginning You laid the foundations of the earth, and the heavens are the work of Your hands. 26They will perish, but You remain; they will all wear out like a garment. Like clothing You will change them, and they will be passed on. 27But You remain the same, and Your years will never end. 28The children of Your servants will dwell securely, and their descendants will be established before You.” PSALM 102:23–28 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 102

Yet in the midst of death and grief This thought our sorrow shall assuage, "Our Father and our Saviour live; "Christ is the same thro' every age." STANZA III

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 3. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 3 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN It is the Lord our Saviour's hand

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