STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

With earnest longings of the mind First Part Desertion and hope; or, Complaint of absence from public worship

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 42:1–5, 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. 1

METRE

Common Metre 8.6.8.6 · 6 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 42:1–5 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

With earnest longings of the mind

With earnest longings of the mind,

My God, to thee I look;

So pants the hunted hart to find

And taste the cooling brook.

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 42:1–5, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul longs after You, O God. 2My soul thirsts for God, the living God. When shall I come and appear in God’s presence? 3My tears have been my food both day and night, while men ask me all day long, “Where is your God?” 4These things come to mind as I pour out my soul: how I walked with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God with shouts of joy and praise. 5Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why the unease within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise Him for the salvation of His presence. PSALM 42:1–5 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 42

With earnest longings of the mind, My God, to thee I look; So pants the hunted hart to find And taste the cooling brook. 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 1. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 1 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN With earnest longings of the mind

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