STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

Had not the Lord, may Israel say A song for the fifth of November

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 124, 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. 124

METRE

Not recorded 5 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 124 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 5 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

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 124, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1If the LORD had not been on our side— let Israel now declare— 2if the LORD had not been on our side when men attacked us, 3when their anger flared against us, then they would have swallowed us alive, 4then the floods would have engulfed us, then the torrent would have overwhelmed us, … 4 more verses PSALM 124 · ITS FIRST VERSES · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 124

Had not the Lord, may Israel say, Had not the Lord maintain'd our side, When men to make our lives a prey, Rose like the swelling of the tide; 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 124. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 124 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN Had not the Lord, may Israel say

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