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[Great is the Lord our God First Part The church is the honour and safety of a nation

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 48:1–8, 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

Short Metre 6.6.8.6 · 7 stanzas

IN HYMNALS

8 listed at Hymnary.org

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 7 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 48:1–8, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, His holy mountain. 2Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King. 3God is in her citadels; He has shown Himself to be a fortress. 4For behold, the kings assembled; they all advanced together. 5They saw and were astounded; they fled in terror. 6Trembling seized them there, anguish like a woman in labor. 7With a wind from the east You wrecked the ships of Tarshish. 8As we have heard, so we have seen in the city of the LORD of Hosts, in the city of our God: God will establish her forever. Selah PSALM 48:1–8 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 48

[Great is the Lord our God, And let his praise be great; He makes his churches his abode, His most delightful seat. 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 [Great is the Lord our God

Where hymnals place it

Printed hymnals list, for each hymn, the Bible passages it goes with, so a church can choose a hymn for the day's reading. Gathered from the hymnals Hymnary.org catalogues, editors have tied this hymn to 6 passages in 1 book. One square is one passage; a ringed square is one the hymn's own lines echo. Point at a square to read it; click to open it beside the page.

Psalms 6

PSALM 48 · THE WHOLE CHAPTERECHOED IN STANZA I, III, VI

1Great is the LORD, and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, His holy mountain. 2Beautiful in loftiness, the joy of all the earth, like the peaks of Zaphon is Mount Zion, the city of the great King. 3God is in her citadels; He has shown Himself to be a fortress. 4For behold, the kings assembled; they all advanced together. … 10 more verses

a passage hymnals tie it to one its lines echo (3)

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