STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

Out of the deeps of long distress Pardoning grace

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 130, 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

Common Metre 8.6.8.6 · 8 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 130 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 8 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

Out of the deeps of long distress

Out of the deeps of long distress,

The borders of despair,

I sent my cries to seek thy grace,

My groans to move thine ear.

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 130, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1Out of the depths I cry to You, O LORD! 2O Lord, hear my voice; let Your ears be attentive to my plea for mercy. 3If You, O LORD, kept track of iniquities, then who, O Lord, could stand? 4But with You there is forgiveness, so that You may be feared. … 4 more verses PSALM 130 · ITS FIRST VERSES · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 130

Out of the deeps of long distress, The borders of despair, I sent my cries to seek thy grace, My groans to move thine ear. 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 Out of the deeps of long distress

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