STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

The Lord the Sovereign sends his summons forth To a new Tune. The last judgment

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 50, 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. 5

METRE

Not recorded 9 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 50 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 9 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

The Lord the Sovereign sends his summons forth

The Lord the Sovereign sends his summons forth,

Calls the south nations, and awakes the north;

From east to west the sounding orders spread

Thro' distant worlds and regions of the dead:

No more shall atheists mock his long delay;

His vengeance sleeps no more: behold the day!

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, "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. 2From Zion, perfect in beauty, God shines forth. 3Our God approaches and will not be silent! Consuming fire precedes Him, and a tempest rages around Him. 4He summons the heavens above, and the earth, that He may judge His people: … 19 more verses PSALM 50 · ITS FIRST VERSES · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 50

Behold the Judge descends; his guards are nigh; Tempest and fire attend him down the sky: Heaven, earth and hell draw near; let all things come To hear his justice and the sinners doom: But gather first my saints (the Judge commands) Bring them, ye angels, from their distant lands. 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 5. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 5 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN The Lord the Sovereign sends his summons forth

Rooted in Scripture. Open for discovery.

A place to read slowly, ask deeply, and follow the connections. Scripture, study and the voices of Christian history, brought together for a lifetime of learning.

SPEND TIME IN THE WORD

  • Open the reader
  • Books & reading progress
  • Compare Scripture editions
  • Find a passage

FOLLOW YOUR QUESTIONS

  • Study collections
  • People & places
  • Faith & apologetics
  • Stories of faith

A library with a paper trail.

Meet the authors. Explore the collection. Trace each work to its source.

Download the code.

Open source on GitHub.