STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

Save me, O Lord, from every foe First Part. C. M. Support and counsel from God without merit

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 16:1–8, 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. 4

METRE

Common Metre 8.6.8.6 · 6 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 16:1–8 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

Save me, O Lord, from every foe

Save me, O Lord, from every foe;

In thee my trust I place,

Tho' all the good that I can do

Can ne'er deserve thy grace.

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 16:1–8, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1Preserve me, O God, for in You I take refuge. 2I said to the LORD, “You are my Lord; apart from You I have no good thing.” 3As for the saints in the land, they are the excellence in whom all my delight resides. 4Sorrows will multiply to those who chase other gods. I will not pour out their libations of blood, or speak their names with my lips. 5The LORD is my chosen portion and my cup; You have made my lot secure. 6The lines of my boundary have fallen in pleasant places; surely my inheritance is delightful. 7I will bless the LORD who counsels me; even at night my conscience instructs me. 8I have set the LORD always before me. Because He is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. PSALM 16:1–8 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 16

Save me, O Lord, from every foe; In thee my trust I place, Tho' all the good that I can do Can ne'er deserve thy grace. 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 4. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 4 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN Save me, O Lord, from every foe

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