STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

My God, what inward grief I feel Third Part. L. M. Sincerity professed, and grace tried; or, The heart- searching of God

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 139, 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 · 4 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 139 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 4 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 139, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1O LORD, You have searched me and known me. 2You know when I sit and when I rise; You understand my thoughts from afar. 3You search out my path and my lying down; You are aware of all my ways. 4Even before a word is on my tongue, You know all about it, O LORD. … 20 more verses PSALM 139 · ITS FIRST VERSES · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 139

Lord, search my soul, try every thought; Tho' my own heart accuse me not Of walking in a false disguise, I beg the trial of thine eyes. 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 My God, what inward grief I feel

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