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Lord, we have heard thy works of old The church's complaint in persecution

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 44:1–3, 8, 15–16, 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. 44

METRE

Common Metre 8.6.8.6 · 11 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 44:1–3, 8, 15–16 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 11 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

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 44:1–3, 8, 15–16, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1We have heard with our ears, O God; our fathers have told us the work You did in their days, in the days of old. 2With Your hand You drove out the nations and planted our fathers there; You crushed the peoples and cast them out. 3For it was not by their sword that they took the land; their arm did not bring them victory. It was by Your right hand, Your arm, and the light of Your face, because You favored them. 8In God we have boasted all day long, and Your name we will praise forever. Selah 15All day long my disgrace is before me, and shame has covered my face, 16at the voice of the scorner and reviler, because of the enemy, bent on revenge. PSALM 44:1–3, 8, 15–16 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 44

Lord, we have heard thy works of old, Thy works of power and grace, When to our ears our fathers told The wonders of their days: 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 44. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 44 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN Lord, we have heard thy works of old

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