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O Bless the Lord, my soul First Part, S. M Praise for spiritual and temporal mercies

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 103:1–7, 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

Short Metre 6.6.8.6 · 6 stanzas

IN HYMNALS

267 listed at Hymnary.org

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

O Bless the Lord, my soul

O Bless the Lord, my soul;

Let all within me join,

And aid my tongue to bless his Name,

Whose favours are divine.

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 103:1–7, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1Bless the LORD, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds— 3He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases, 4who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion, 5who satisfies you with good things, so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s. 6The LORD executes righteousness and justice for all the oppressed. 7He made known His ways to Moses, His deeds to the people of Israel. PSALM 103:1–7 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 103

O Bless the Lord, my soul; Let all within me join, And aid my tongue to bless his Name, Whose favours are divine. 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 3. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 3 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN O Bless the Lord, my soul

Where hymnals place it

Printed hymnals list, for each hymn, the Bible passages it goes with, so a church can choose a hymn for the day's reading. Gathered from the hymnals Hymnary.org catalogues, editors have tied this hymn to 1 passage in 1 book. One square is one passage; a ringed square is one the hymn's own lines echo. Point at a square to read it; click to open it beside the page.

Psalms 1

PSALM 103 · THE WHOLE CHAPTERECHOED IN STANZA I, II, III, IV, V, VI

1Bless the LORD, O my soul; all that is within me, bless His holy name. 2Bless the LORD, O my soul, and do not forget all His kind deeds— 3He who forgives all your iniquities and heals all your diseases, 4who redeems your life from the Pit and crowns you with loving devotion and compassion, … 18 more verses

a passage hymnals tie it to one its lines echo (1)

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