STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

Behold the morning sun Second Part. S. M. God's word most excellent; or, Sincerity and watchfulness. For a Lord's-day morning

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 19, 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. 2

METRE

Short Metre 6.6.8.6 · 8 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 19 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

Behold the morning sun

Begins his glorious way;

His beams thro' all the nations run,

And life and light convey.

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 19, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of His hands. 2Day after day they pour forth speech; night after night they reveal knowledge. 3Without speech or language, without a sound to be heard, 4their voice has gone out into all the earth, their words to the ends of the world. In the heavens He has pitched a tent for the sun. … 10 more verses PSALM 19 · ITS FIRST VERSES · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 19

Warn me of every sin, Forgive my secret faults, And cleanse this guilty soul of mine, Whose crimes exceed my thoughts. STANZA VII

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 2. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 2 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN Behold the morning sun

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