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O for a shout of sacred joy Christ ascending and reigning

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 47, 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. 47

METRE

Common Metre 8.6.8.6 · 6 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 47 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

O for a shout of sacred joy

To God the sovereign King!

Let every land their tongues employ,

And hymns of triumph sing.

No line of this stanza quotes a verse closely; it is the hymn's own confession.

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 47, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1Clap your hands, all you peoples; shout unto God with a voice of triumph. 2How awesome is the LORD Most High, the great King over all the earth! 3He subdues nations beneath us, and peoples under our feet. 4He chooses our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom He loves. Selah … 5 more verses PSALM 47 · ITS FIRST VERSES · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 47

Jesus our God ascends on high, His heavenly guards around Attend him rising thro' the sky, With trumpet's joyful sound. STANZA II

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

NO. 47 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN O for a shout of sacred joy

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