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When Christ to judgment shall descend 3d Part. C. M The judgement of hypocrites

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 50:1, 5, 8, 16, 21, 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. 3

METRE

Common Metre 8.6.8.6 · 5 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 50:1, 5, 8, 16, 21 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 5 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

When Christ to judgment shall descend

And saints surround their Lord,

He calls the nations to attend,

And hear his awful word.

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 50:1, 5, 8, 16, 21, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1The Mighty One, God the LORD, speaks and summons the earth from where the sun rises to where it sets. 5“Gather to Me My saints, who made a covenant with Me by sacrifice.” 8I do not rebuke you for your sacrifices, and your burnt offerings are ever before Me. 16To the wicked, however, God says, “What right have you to recite My statutes and to bear My covenant on your lips? 21You have done these things, and I kept silent; you thought I was just like you. But now I rebuke you and accuse you to your face. PSALM 50:1, 5, 8, 16, 21 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 50

"And what have hypocrites to do "To bring their sacrifice? "They call my statutes just and true, "But deal in theft and lies. STANZA III

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

NO. 3 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN When Christ to judgment shall descend

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