STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

To thine almighty arm we owe Second Part. C. M. The conqueror's song

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 18, 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 18 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

To thine almighty arm we owe

The triumphs of the day

Thy terrors, Lord, confound the foe,

And melt their strength away.

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 18, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1I love You, O LORD, my strength. 2The LORD is my rock, my fortress, and my deliverer. My God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield, and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. 3I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised; so shall I be saved from my enemies. 4The cords of death encompassed me; the torrents of chaos overwhelmed me. … 46 more verses PSALM 18 · ITS FIRST VERSES · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 18

How have we chas'd them thro' the field, And trod them to the ground, While thy salvation was our shield, But they no shelter found! 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 5. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 5 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN To thine almighty arm we owe

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