STUDY / LIVING THE CHRISTIAN LIFE / HYMNS

Lord, what was man, when made at first &c. paraphrased Second Part. L. M. Adam and Christ, lords of the old and the new creation

Isaac Watts's setting of Psalm 8:3–9, 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. 4

METRE

Long Metre 8.8.8.8 · 5 stanzas

WRITTEN ON

Psalm 8:3–9 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

The psalm it sets

Watts made this hymn from Psalm 8:3–9, "in the language of the New Testament": a paraphrase, not a translation. The line that comes closest to it is marked.

3When I behold Your heavens, the work of Your fingers, the moon and the stars, which You have set in place— 4what is man that You are mindful of him, or the son of man that You care for him? 5You made him a little lower than the angels; You crowned him with glory and honor. 6You made him ruler of the works of Your hands; You have placed everything under his feet: 7all sheep and oxen, and even the beasts of the field, 8the birds of the air and the fish of the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. 9O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is Your name in all the earth! PSALM 8:3–9 · BEREAN STANDARD BIBLE READ PSALM 8

Lord, what was man, when made at first, Adam the offspring of the dust, That thou shouldst set him and his race But just below an angel's place? 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 4. Point at a tick to see the hymn; click it to open that hymn.

NO. 4 · ISAAC WATTS · THIS HYMN Lord, what was man, when made at first

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