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I Set the Lord before my face Second Part. C. M. The death and resurrection of Christ

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 16, 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. 5

METRE

Common Metre 8.6.8.6 · 6 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 16 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

I Set the Lord before my face

I Set the Lord before my face,

"He bears my courage up;

"My heart, and tongue, their joys express,

"My flesh shall rest in hope.

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 16, "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. … 7 more verses PSALM 16 · ITS FIRST VERSES · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 16

I Set the Lord before my face, "He bears my courage up; "My heart, and tongue, their joys express, "My flesh shall rest in hope. 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 5. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 5 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN I Set the Lord before my face

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