STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

"How awful is thy chastening rod!" Second Part. Comfort derived from ancient providences; or, Israel delivered from Egypt, and brought to Canaan

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 77, 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. 2

METRE

Not recorded 10 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 77 the verse printed above it

The hymn, and the Scripture in it

All 10 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

"How awful is thy chastening rod!"

(May thine own children say)

"The great, the wise, the dreadful God!

"How holy is his way!"

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 77, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

1I cried out to God; I cried aloud to God to hear me. 2In the day of trouble I sought the Lord; through the night my outstretched hands did not grow weary; my soul refused to be comforted. 3I remembered You, O God, and I groaned; I mused and my spirit grew faint. Selah 4You have kept my eyes from closing; I am too troubled to speak. … 16 more verses PSALM 77 · ITS FIRST VERSES · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 77

The waters saw thee, mighty God! The waters saw thee come; Backward they fled, and frighted stood, To make thine armies room. STANZA VI

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

NO. 2 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN "How awful is thy chastening rod!"

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